Vikings' Patterson admits being a 1st-round pick made him 'lazy'

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson is facing a make-or-break season after his offensive production steadily declined following a seven-touchdown rookie season in 2013.

The talented receiver has continued to be valuable in the return game, but hasn't developed into the kind of weapon he was projected to be when the Vikings drafted him 29th overall.

Patterson now admits he became complacent due to his perceived value to the team.

"Sometimes you can be here and you feel like you've got to be on the team," Patterson said, according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "You feel like, 'Yeah, I'm a first-round pick, I'm on the team.' Things like that, sometimes they make you not work hard, they make you don't want to do things, make you be lazy."

The Vikings decided not to pick up his fifth-year option in the offseason, something that would've been unthinkable after his explosive first season, and head coach Mike Zimmer hopes Patterson uses that as motivation to improve.

"Sometimes players understand when they're not playing, that in order to play, they have to do things this way or that way, and if they want to play, this is what you have to do," Zimmer said. "And sometimes it just takes time to learn it."

Patterson has lost snaps to Charles Johnson and Stefon Diggs over the past two seasons because of their ability to run crisp routes and learn the playbook. Now that the Vikings have brought in another talented option in rookie wide receiver Laquon Treadwell, it's hard to envision a clear-cut role for Patterson in the offense.

But the realities of the Vikings' depth chart don't seem to bother the confident Patterson.

"Every guy wants to start," Patterson said. "Nobody wants to ride the bench. I can't say, 'I want to be a starter' because at the end of the day, if I work hard, I will be a starter. If I keep doing what I'm supposed to do, I'll be a starter."