Post by Purple Pain on Aug 16, 2021 9:29:29 GMT -6
Purple Insider:
'Got me paid the last time': Why players return to play for Andre Patterson
Rest at link:
purpleinsider.substack.com/p/got-me-paid-the-last-time-why-players
'Got me paid the last time': Why players return to play for Andre Patterson
Andre Patterson isn’t usually a fast walker, but his jaunt is a little slower than usual this training camp. How come? There’s a brace on his knee following a recent procedure.
But the Vikings co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach has found a way to capitalize on his plodding gait. If he puts his arm around a player as they walk to the locker room after practice, it buys him some time to share whatever wisdom he has that day.
Last Wednesday and Thursday, his chosen player was Sheldon Richardson, the nine-year veteran and two-time Viking who found his way back to Minnesota after a two-year stint with the Cleveland Browns. Ask Patterson, or Richardson for that matter, and they’ll tell you that the defensive tackle spent too much time away. His technique got rusty, by Patterson’s standards, when he was with the Browns. Those slow walks after the post-practice huddle? They’re all about correction.
“[He’s] probably ripping me a new one on stuff I shouldn't even have to be questioned on,” Richardson told Purple Insider with a chuckle.
Richardson isn’t the only Viking having to relearn technique. After only one year gone, Stephen Weatherly is needing some reminders, too, following a season in Carolina.
It’s not the first time — and won’t be the last — that we hear of Patterson’s penchant to break pass rushers down before building them back up under his tutelage. He was trying to do the same with Yannick Ngakoue in 2020 before the team traded him, and he’s remade several rookies over the years, including Weatherly when he was drafted in 2016.
Now Weatherly is having deja vu.
“‘You've been away for too long, your technique's getting a little bit out of whack.’” Weatherly recalls Patterson saying. “So I gotta reel it back in, really hunker down and get back into the groove of things, doing it the way Andre Patterson wants it to be done.”
The rigors of Patterson’s program create a fascinating juxtaposition with his popularity. Both returning defensive linemen are almost bashful about not meeting Patterson’s standard, essentially admitting that they should’ve known better than to forget the veteran coach’s teachings.
They’re not the first Vikings defensive linemen to depart and circle back to the organization. Tom Johnson, Ifeadi Odenigbo and Shamar Stephen have returned in recent years after a short time away.
Weatherly has a clear answer when asked about the appeal of returning to his original club.
“There's a difference, and I like it,” he said. “There's a standard that's required to play. You know exactly what it is each and every day when you walk into the building, and it's up to you to come out here and show it to the coaches. So that's something I love, it's really simple.”
Mike Zimmer has often referenced the grass not always being greener when players depart and then return. It’s happened not only with a handful of defensive linemen but several players in the secondary like Mackensie Alexander, Andrew Sendejo and George Iloka.
Particularly on defense, the Vikings have had uncommon continuity since Zimmer’s arrival in 2014, whether that be coaching, scheme or personnel. That includes Patterson, who’s been with Zimmer all eight of his seasons.
Another one of those constants has been Harrison Smith, who laid out why he thinks players are prone to return.
“If you go somewhere else and it’s maybe not quite the same,” Smith said, “it’s probably natural to want to come back and not only play in a good scheme under good coaches but the guys around you as well that make things, not easier, but when the communication is on-point and guys are taking care of their jobs, your job becomes less stressful.”
But the Vikings co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach has found a way to capitalize on his plodding gait. If he puts his arm around a player as they walk to the locker room after practice, it buys him some time to share whatever wisdom he has that day.
Last Wednesday and Thursday, his chosen player was Sheldon Richardson, the nine-year veteran and two-time Viking who found his way back to Minnesota after a two-year stint with the Cleveland Browns. Ask Patterson, or Richardson for that matter, and they’ll tell you that the defensive tackle spent too much time away. His technique got rusty, by Patterson’s standards, when he was with the Browns. Those slow walks after the post-practice huddle? They’re all about correction.
“[He’s] probably ripping me a new one on stuff I shouldn't even have to be questioned on,” Richardson told Purple Insider with a chuckle.
Richardson isn’t the only Viking having to relearn technique. After only one year gone, Stephen Weatherly is needing some reminders, too, following a season in Carolina.
It’s not the first time — and won’t be the last — that we hear of Patterson’s penchant to break pass rushers down before building them back up under his tutelage. He was trying to do the same with Yannick Ngakoue in 2020 before the team traded him, and he’s remade several rookies over the years, including Weatherly when he was drafted in 2016.
Now Weatherly is having deja vu.
“‘You've been away for too long, your technique's getting a little bit out of whack.’” Weatherly recalls Patterson saying. “So I gotta reel it back in, really hunker down and get back into the groove of things, doing it the way Andre Patterson wants it to be done.”
The rigors of Patterson’s program create a fascinating juxtaposition with his popularity. Both returning defensive linemen are almost bashful about not meeting Patterson’s standard, essentially admitting that they should’ve known better than to forget the veteran coach’s teachings.
They’re not the first Vikings defensive linemen to depart and circle back to the organization. Tom Johnson, Ifeadi Odenigbo and Shamar Stephen have returned in recent years after a short time away.
Weatherly has a clear answer when asked about the appeal of returning to his original club.
“There's a difference, and I like it,” he said. “There's a standard that's required to play. You know exactly what it is each and every day when you walk into the building, and it's up to you to come out here and show it to the coaches. So that's something I love, it's really simple.”
Mike Zimmer has often referenced the grass not always being greener when players depart and then return. It’s happened not only with a handful of defensive linemen but several players in the secondary like Mackensie Alexander, Andrew Sendejo and George Iloka.
Particularly on defense, the Vikings have had uncommon continuity since Zimmer’s arrival in 2014, whether that be coaching, scheme or personnel. That includes Patterson, who’s been with Zimmer all eight of his seasons.
Another one of those constants has been Harrison Smith, who laid out why he thinks players are prone to return.
“If you go somewhere else and it’s maybe not quite the same,” Smith said, “it’s probably natural to want to come back and not only play in a good scheme under good coaches but the guys around you as well that make things, not easier, but when the communication is on-point and guys are taking care of their jobs, your job becomes less stressful.”
Rest at link:
purpleinsider.substack.com/p/got-me-paid-the-last-time-why-players
... and neither is this Chris guy.
