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Old 06-12-2022, 10:17 AM
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Default 'The time is now:' With 1st-team reps, Colts' Dezmon Patmon sees chance he's been wai

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...ce/7529630001/

INDIANAPOLIS -- These Colts practices have Dezmon Patmon feeling like a rookie and a veteran at the same time.

On one hand, they're his first offseason practices in an NFL uniform. The pitfalls of being a 2020 draft pick meant losing two springs of playbook installation, and individual and team drills to work on the fundamentals of route running before the hits arrive.

On the other, he's 23 years old and in his third season, which makes him onf the older end of Colts wide receivers.

Pressure and opportunity both exist on the spectrum, but for now, Patmon is consumed by the latter. He's seeing action with the first-team offense. Behind a clear top three of Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce and Parris Campbell, Patmon appears to have as good of a shot as any to be the Colts' No. 4 receiver.


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"The time is now," he said. "It's going to be a battle this year for all those spots."

Patmon answers most questions with a smile and a quick affirmation. He appears loose after a second day of mandatory minicamp, stretching on his back on the indoor turf with fellow receivers by his side. They've never been in these settings before. Their NFL experience has been consumed by an isolating pandemic.

This spring is about thawing out.

So Patmon runs his routes into the end zone with newfound precision, turning for a loft from Matt Ryan or Nick Foles before talking through the technique with Reggie Wayne. It's a portal back to childhood, where he used to play with Foles as his Madden quarterback, watch highlights of Wayne and clips of Ryan.

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Dezmon Patmon has just two career catches in three seasons but has an opportunity for playing time after the departure of T.Y. Hilton.
"It's pretty cool having all these guys you grew up with as your football role models actually being in the room with you," he said.

That's the part that keeps him feeling young. After all, he has two catches for 21 yards and one touchdown in his career, and he's been active for nine games in two seasons. His lone highlight so far is a game-sealing touchdown to beat the Cardinals on Christmas last season.

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When he hears Pittman Jr. talk about being the veteran of the room two years after they were in the same draft class, he feels grown up again.

With T.Y. Hilton not currently in the picture, the Colts receiver room has become a hodgepodge of youth, traits, upside and question marks. In the receiver lines on the grass field behind the facility, it can look like a bunch of boys jostling for a chance to play.


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But they're tall , too. At 6-foot-4, Patmon is one of four Colts receivers who are 6-3 or taller.

His body has caught up to his childhood dreams.


"I grew up wanting to be Julio (Jones), A.J. Green or Calvin Johnson," Patmon said. "You idolize those bigger-body receivers because you can envision yourself becoming what they are.

"I definitely grew up watching Julio, and Matt was throwing him the ball."

It's that work with Ryan that is crystalizing the opportunity for him now. Ever since Ryan arrived, he's been quizzing players on their assignments and testing them in 7-on-7. Patmon is one of the players who gets those tests, putting two years of film study on the table.

"He's just developing, getting all the reps down, more so than last year," offensive coordinator Marcus Brady said. "What's helping him is mentally understanding the offense, where he's not thinking and he can just go out there and use his physical tools."

Those physical tools include the 4.48-second 40-yard dash and 132-inch broad jump he posted at the NFL Scouting Combine, both marks putting him in the top 4% of receivers his size in history. Coming out of Washington State's air raid offense, questions were all about his route running, and a pandemic disrupted the path to answering any of those.

Two years later, that path is back. It's in front of him every day at practice, those passes from Ryan his opportunity to snag what's always been lingering in the distance.


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"As long as I can compete and do what I've done my whole life, I feel like I can go out there and earn that role in the offense," Patmon said.
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Old 06-12-2022, 01:16 PM
Oldcolt Oldcolt is offline
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Be incredibly nice if he could make a move and grab that fourth spot. If the Colts do not sign anyone else then they must like what they see in him and the other guys.
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