What It Means:

Patterson has been on injured reserve since injuring his knee in Week 4, but Wednesday's return means he could play as soon as Sunday versus the Los Angeles Chargers. The Falcons will likely see how Patterson looks at practice this week before making a decision on his status. Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley have been splitting most of the backfield work with Patterson on IR, but they will both likely take a hit once he's cleared. Allgeier was the clear second option before Patterson injured his knee and Huntley barely played at all.

In Patterson's three healthy games, he played 62.2% of the offensive snaps and handled 52.1% of the Falcons' carries while averaging 18.7 combined opportunities per contest. Among the 46 backs with at least 50 carries this season, Patterson is averaging the sixth-most Rushing Net Expected Points per carry (0.20). Huntley is 11th (0.13) and Allgeier is 32nd (negative-2.11) out of that same group.