Steelers Get Extremely Concerning Offseason Update From Cordarrelle Patterson

The Pittsburgh Steelers should have a significant advantage throughout the 2024 NFL regular season as long as new special teams weapon Cordarrelle Patterson remains healthy. The new kickoff rules will allow teams to be extremely creative and dynamic when it comes to returning kicks. The free agent signee has the most kick returns for touchdowns of all-time with nine. Opposing teams will have a tough time containing him, but he is over the age of 33 and some may wonder if he comes into his 12th season as a bit of a liability due to Father Time catching up to him.

The Steelers wrapped up mandatory minicamp practice on Thursday and won't hold another organized get-together for six weeks. The team will report to St. Vincent College for training camp at the end of July. Patterson has some work to do until then apparently. According to Chris Adamski of Trib-Live, the veteran is nowhere near in the shape he should be as he prepares to play in Pittsburgh for the first time in his career.

Everyone's body responds to things differently, and you would think an experienced player like Patterson would have the hang of things when it comes to the offseason. If he has had this approach his entire career, fans will want him to prove that once the regular season rolls around. If Patterson were to show up out of shape and look a bit slower in the preseason, special teams coordinator Danny Smith and his group wouldn't be all that happy.

It's pretty fascinating to hear a player in his first year with an organization blatantly say that he purposely didn't stay in shape throughout the offseason. He could absolutely make it a non-issue if he reports to camp with no issues, but there was no talk about him being out of shape until he mentioned it to reporters like Adamski on Thursday.

Special teams will play a more pivotal in professional games than it has in some time. The new rules for kickoff and kick return teams could potentially completely swing games one way or another. Patterson is a threat that should make some dynamic plays for the Steelers, but no one wants to hear how out of shape he is, regardless of what his approach has been in past years.

Father Time catches up to everyone and while 33 isn't as old as some other players throughout the league, Patterson has been aggressively used in recent years, especially by the Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears. There should be a little bit of concern with just six weeks until training camp that a new weapon coming into the building has nowhere near the stamina that he should. Head Coach Mike Tomlin might not be too happy to hear Patterson's comments.

Steelers' Patterson Can Shut Down Any Criticism In Six Weeks Time

Fans are going to have to take Patterson's word for it. Despite not being in fantastic shape, he has roughly six weeks to shape up and get ready for the real preparation. It's a moot point for now, but the first glimpse of him being gassed or out of shape in Latrobe will have many individuals pointing out his comments that he made to Adamski on Thursday.

Are you at all concerned with Patterson being that out of shape in mid-June? Let us know in the comments below!

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