Panthers Coach Reveals Prep for Falcons 'Joker' Cordarrelle Patterson

Despite the selection of Bijan Robinson, the Carolina Panthers will still have to respect Cordarrelle Patterson when he is on the field for the Atlanta Falcons offense.

Sunday will mark the beginning of Cordarrelle Patterson's 10th season in the NFL when the Atlanta Falcons kick off the regular season at home versus the Carolina Panthers. 

Despite the 32-year-old being overtaken on the depth chart at running back with first-round rookie Bijan Robinson and second-year standout Tyler Allgeier, Patterson is still a point of conversation for opposing defenses. 

"Cordarrelle is a weapon, right? It's fun to be able to go up against him," Panthers coach Frank Reich said of Patterson "How he has continually reinvented himself (is impressive). Do we have a little bit of a similar vision for Laviska (Shenault)? We may use Laviska some to imitate Cordarrelle, but honestly, we've got to get Laviska ready to be Laviska."

Since coming into the league as a receiver back in 2013, Patterson has played seemingly everywhere. This makes it fitting that the Falcons added a position (Joker) on their first depth chart specifically for Patterson. 

The designation of Patterson as the "Joker" is just the latest sign that even with the addition of Robinson, the Falcons do not plan on making the veteran watch from the sidelines. Instead, it seems likely that Patterson will see snaps from an array of positions on the field, which is what he prefers to do, as he revealed in the offseason.

With the new one-two punch of Robinson and Allgeier at running back, the Falcons will have the opportunity to use the veteran more similar to how they did in 2021 when he took 177 snaps as a traditional receiver, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Falcons - with Patterson's versatility poised to be on full display - will play host to the Panthers on Sunday inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.