Cordarrelle Patterson isn’t quite Devin Hester, but he’s as good a kick returner as there is in the NFL right now – and of course, he plays for the Bears like Hester did. Although kick returns have become less important as the NFL has changed the rules on special teams, but that doesn’t minimize the impact Patterson can have on a game.
The Rams don’t plan to give him any chances on kickoffs, with Sean McVay emphasizing that last week in his media session. He wants Samuel Sloman to boot the ball out of the end zone every time because Patterson “is a nightmare to deal with in the kick return phase.”
“He’s a great returner. That phase specifically is a huge point of emphasis for us and really if you’re going to prevent him from returning it, you better kick it out of the end zone,” McVay said. “Because he’ll take it out 9 yards deep and he’s made people pay. So, Sam, along with everybody else on our kickoff unit, that’s been a major focal point with our special teams emphasis this week because of the respect we have for Patterson as a returner.”
Sloman has had some trouble with distance on kickoffs this season, only booting 65.6% of them for touchbacks. That ranks 15th in the NFL, but against the Bears, that rate has to be much higher.
Patterson is dangerous when he gets the ball in his hands and McVay knows it.
