Falcons’ RB Cordarrelle Patterson was placed on the IR on Monday due to his nagging left knee injury. He underwent surgery and will miss the next four weeks at least.
Patterson – who is Atlanta’s leading rusher – has been battling knee issues since Week 3, and missed practice leading up to Sunday’s game against Cleveland as a result. Though no official injury was ever announced, Patterson was labeled “resting player/knee” on the injury reports.
He was the starting running back, and looked good in the first half of the Falcons 23-20 win over the Browns, carrying the ball eight times and scoring once. But in the second half he only got one attempt before being forced to exit, finishing the day with nine attempts for 38 yards. He was never officially ruled out and no injury was announced, prompting speculation.
Head coach Arthur Smith cleared things up on Monday when he announced that Patterson would be hitting the IR after undergoing a surprise surgery.
“He had a minor procedure [Monday] morning that will help him long-term. He will go on IR with the plan for him to return,” Smith said. “It’s something that he’s been managing […] I’m not a doctor, but you know you’re trying to weigh all that and then nothing that we did that put him at further risk.”
The move comes as a major blow to the already weak Falcons offense. Patterson rushed for career-high 120 yards against New Orleans in Atlanta’s season-opener. Then, two weeks later, he topped that with a 141-yard performance against the Seahawks, earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Being placed on the IR means that Patterson will have to miss the next four weeks at least. He won’t be able to play again until November 6, when the Falcons host the Chargers. Our algorithm predicts he will have reached Optimal Recovery by that point, which is good. Until then, his Injury Risk will be High (25%) and his Health Performance Factor will be Below Average (42%).
