Watching Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson used on two jet sweeps plays was an interesting, and effective, wrinkle incorporated by offensive coordinator Norv Turner during the 34-6 victory over the Rams in Week 1 on Sunday. Turner used Thursday's press conference to temper expectations, however, noting that those types of trick plays aren't reliable on a weekly basis.
"Those plays I think when they happen are exciting and they're great; you can't count on those," Turner said. "A guy like Cordarrelle is capable of doing that with his physical ability."
Patterson said the jet sweep isn't new to him. It's a play he's done since junior college and his one season at Tennessee. He's not even sure if he'll get a carry this week against Patriots given the unpredictably of Turner's offense.
"You just can't focus on one guy," Patterson said. "Like me, I might not get no balls or no kickoff returns this week. It really don't matter to me as long as my team's successful and as long as we win. We know we're going to be good. You can't worry about yourself all the time, you've got to think about your team."
But it's a good tool to break out for the Vikings, as teams have to account for running back Adrian Peterson and Patterson on the play. Here's a good breakdown on those plays and how the Seahawks used wide receiver Percy Harvin on fly sweep plays against the Packers in a similar fashion.
While Patterson's 67-yard touchdown run has been replayed constantly on sports highlight shows, Turner was more impressed with his two jet sweep runs that went for 23 and 13 yards.
"Those first two runs were physical runs where he was physical at the line of scrimmage," Turner said. "He had to break a tackle. We got him going, the offensive line, backs, Matt, all those guys, the tight ends on that long run, like a kickoff return, they got him 15, 18 yards downfield before he had to go to work. If you can get him that much room, you've seen him more than I have on those kickoff returns, on those space plays where he just takes off and goes."
