Mike Patterson Cleared To Play And Back At Practice

Less than three weeks ago Mike Patterson collapsed on the practice fields at Lehigh with a seizure. Two days later diagnosed with AVM, which is a tangle of blood vessels near his brain. Today, he’s was back in practice.

Patterson was cleared last week to return to the team to start conditioning work and today was the first time he was allowed to participate in practice. He is not sure however, whether he will play this Thursday. At this point, Patterson says he just has to work on getting his fitness level to where it needs to be, but he’s not far off.

"I’m not too far off. But it’s football so everything takes practice and time and stuff like that. So I just need to be patient and continue to work on the things that I need to work on and listen to the coaching staff."

Typically starters do not play in the fourth and final preseason game, but Patterson said he’d be happy to do it if Andy Reid felt like he wanted to see him in game action. However, it will be Reid’s decision as to whether that is the case.

Patterson plans to have the AVM treated after the season, meaning he will be playing with it this year. As a congenital issue, it’s not any more or less likely to be an issue for him whether he plays football or not. He says it won’t be a distraction for him.

"No, just because you know it’s two separate things. You just know that they’re just trying to see how you’re doing health-wise and stuff like that and football’s a whole different thing. So it’s easy to focus. That’s the good thing about football, it’s easy to zone everything out and just go out there and play."

Michael Vick said Patterson's return was a boost to the morale of the whole team.

"It's great to have Mike back. You know, everybody is ecstatic to have him back and we're excited to get him back out on the field. And I know he feels the same way and like I said, that instant brought us closer together as a team."