NFC Notes: Cordarrelle Patterson, Cameron Jordan, Falcons, Panthers, Saints

Falcons

Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson admitted that he enjoyed being used all over the field in 2021 compared to 2022, where he predominantly appeared as a running back. 

“That’s just using me everywhere,” said Patterson, via Scott Bair of ESPN. “Last year, I was more of a running back. We had injuries there so I had to step up. But, in 2021 we had running backs and receivers so they moved me around to a lot of places. It felt good to be used that much.”

Falcons HC Arthur Smith didn’t want to get too far into why they used Patterson differently in 2022 but is glad to have a versatile player like him available. 

“CP has done a lot of jobs,” Smith said. “You saw that his role in 2021 was a very different story than what he did in 2022. I don’t want to get too specific in it – that will play itself out – but I’m excited CP is still here. He looks good. It’s a good problem to have with guys who are versatile. Out of some necessity, last year he was used more traditionally as a running back. Those are good problems to have. … It gives us a lot of flexibility. … CP is certainly a valuable person to this program.”

Patterson added he’s closing in on the end of his career but still feels like he has 6-7 years left in him. 

“I’m in Year 11 right now,” Patterson said. “I wish I could play the rest of my life but I can’t. The ceiling’s closing on me so I’m all in. I still feel like I have six or seven years left in me. It depends, though, if a team wants to keep me around that long. If they want me, I’m going to be here.”

Panthers

Panthers TE Tommy Tremble came into the league at age 20 and is still trying to learn things under new HC Frank Reich and TE coach John Lilly.

“This is the first time that we’ve really been coached up, receiving-wise, other than us trying to figure it out on our own,” Tremble told Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer. “This is really the first opportunity we’ve had to excel in the receiving game, and have points, and (receive) teaching points on how to attack this kind of leverage, attack this kind of defense. . . . Before it was more, you run it, you run what’s on paper and you try to make it work, and if it didn’t work, you’d try to figure it out yourself. So, having that kind of backing, that kind of support — from all over the coaching staff to the players, themselves — I think it’s been a world of difference in what our accelerating (of) the receiving game has been.”

“I would say it’s something very harped on for this year, and I love every second of it,” Tremble said. “I think, really, these last two years have taught me that I can play this game. I came in at 20 years old, not really knowing how the whole NFL life works — of course, my dad (former Dallas Cowboys defensive back Greg Tremble) played in the league for a few years back in the day — but it’s a different day and age. I didn’t know how exactly everything was going to pan out being in the NFL, but from my first two years, knowing that I can play, and the stuff I’ve done in practice, and all the other things, I know I have the ability to excel at this level. And I think, really, just the confidence behind that and behind the coaching staff — that they have in us — I think it really will help me take that big step this year.”

“I can play all over,” Tremble concluded. “I can be lined up in the backfield, I can be lined up on the line, I can be lined up split out. I can just do everything that Frank would want me to do. And I think just having that flexibility opens up the playbook, and really let’s us let loose.”

Saints

Saints veteran DE Cameron Jordan explained that he started thinking of the young players on the team’s roster as “kids” in terms of helping them develop in the NFL.

“We had a full locker room shift,” Jordan said, via ESPN.com. “We had like six or seven rookie D-linemen that I had to deal with, and I was like ‘At this point, you guys are kids!’ I was raising children as we were going along. Ever since then, it’s gotten a lot easier.”

The Saints are once again very young along their defensive line with Jordan being the only returning starter from last year.

“These kids born in the late ’90s and early 2000s get a little different,” Jordan said. “The combination of social media as well as now, guys coming from NIL (name, image and likeness) deals to also them also having different loves. When I first got to the league, I was like, ‘I just want to be good at my position.’ Guys come in, they’re like ‘Hey, I’ve got this business going, I’ve got this music artist, I’ve got whatever.’ Multiple avenues, and I’m not knocking it, I’m just saying what my dad has always told me: ‘Keep the main thing the main thing.’

“When you’re in school, keep school the most important factor. When you’re out of school as an adult, you get drafted by a team, they invest money into you, they invest opportunity into you, do what you can to make the most of the opportunity.”