With one week of the NFL preseason down, the new kickoff rule is in full swing as teams have had an opportunity to work on it in training camp and run it in the preseason.
For some, there has been some success. For others, it’s been a bit frustrating The Steelers? They might be somewhere in between.
While special teams coordinator Danny Smith likes the new rule and is excited by the challenge it brings, his players have mixed feelings about it, especially new kickoff returner Cordarrelle Patterson, who is one of the best kick returners in NFL history.
Patterson stated during minicamp in June that he had mixed feelings about the rule, saying one day he hated it and the next he was okay with it. A few months later, he’s accepted the new rule, even if he finds it to be “crazy.” All he can do now is adjust, and that’s what his focus is on.
“It’s crazy, just going back and just going to the NFL app, just trying to see everything I can, it’s just, it’s crazy, you know?” Patterson said of the new kickoff rule, according to video via Steelers.com. “It is a different rule. But we got a good plan. Danny Smith, he’s a crazy guy, man. That’s how he is. He sleep, breathe, and eat football.
“So I’m excited. Just ready for Week 1.”
Week 1 for the Steelers features a matchup with Patterson’s former team in the Atlanta Falcons, where he returned one kickoff for a touchdown in the 2022 season. That was a long time ago with a different rule though.
Patterson, who was activated off of the Active/Non-Football Injury list on Friday ahead of the preseason opener against the Houston Texans, has not had a chance to fully work on kickoff returns with the new rule, but his time is coming.
The Steelers, for all intents and purposes, signed him to be an answer in the return game after the implementation of the new rule back in March. It’s a new frontier, in a sense, for Patterson — and for the rest of the league.
There’s no sense in being frustrated with it or continuing to be irritated by the rule change and lamenting things changing. Now is the time to be open-minded, adjust, and try to master the new way of doing things.
That’s how Patterson is trying to approach it.
“Honestly, man, it like I just told him earlier, it’s different. You know, it’s gonna be a lot of different. Nobody’s used to it, it never happened before in the NFL. So, just trying to just keep looking at film and just see how I can get better out there and just visualizing myself, just kind of help this team and score touchdowns,” Patterson said.
It’ll be very interesting to see if Patterson gets a crack at returning kicks on Saturday against the Buffalo Bills at Acrisure Stadium in Week 2 of the preseason, especially after the Steelers gave opportunities to John Rhys Plumlee, Jonathan Ward and Daijun Edwards against the Texans, none of whom had much success.
Patterson is on a different level though. It might be a new rule, but in the grand scheme of things, returning kicks is returning kicks. Patterson’s been one of the best to ever do it in the open field. It might be a crazy rule, but it won’t be crazy to see Patterson have success with it.
