After grabbing ahold of first place in the NFC South in Week 8, the Atlanta Falcons are about to get a boost to their backfield. On Wednesday, head coach Arthur Smith announced before practice that the club designated Cordarrelle Patterson to come off injured reserve, opening up his practice window.
Patterson now has 21 days to practice with the team without counting toward its 53-man roster. However, if he is not brought onto the active roster before those 21 days are up, Patterson would then revert to injured reserve and be out for the remainder of the season. That circumstance is rather unlikely, as Patterson has made consistent progress after having a minor knee procedure done after aggravating the injury in Week 4 and subsequently being placed on injured reserve.
After being placed on IR on Oct. 3, Patterson was required to be sidelined for at least four weeks. He has since met those requirements and could return as early as Week 9 when Atlanta hosts the Chargers. That said, it is unclear if Patterson will actually make his return this weekend or if he'll need more time to get back up to speed.
The Falcons are one of the most run-heavy teams in the NFL, electing to keep the ball on the ground 57.6% of the time this season (second most in the league). When healthy, Patterson was one of the key cogs to that rushing attack, starting in three of his four games played this season. He also has two games where he's rushed for at least 120 yards. In 2021, Patterson started 13 of his 16 games played for the Falcons and led the team in rushing yards (618) and rushing attempts (153). This offseason, the 31-year-old signed a two-year, $10.5 million contract to remain in Atlanta.
In his absence, the club has deployed Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley out of the backfield with relative success. In last week's overtime win against the Panthers, the Falcons rushed for 167 yards as a team.
