Patterson could take on increased offensive snaps in Sunday's game against the Cowboys with Amari Cooper (ankle) ruled out for the contest, Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com reports.
When Cooper sat out the Week 13 win over the Giants before returning to last week's loss to the Chiefs and exiting early after aggravating the ankle issue, Patterson was one of a few wideouts called upon to fill Cooper's spot. Though he found less success against Kansas City (three catches for eight yards on six targets), Patterson proved to be a big-play threat against New York, finishing that contest with a season-high 97 yards on four receptions. It's still expected that Cooper's fellow starting receiver, Michael Crabtree, will rank as quarterback Derek Carr's top target in Week 15, but Cooper's absence nonetheless creates more targets to go around for Patterson and tight end Jared Cook, and perhaps Seth Roberts and Johnny Holton to a lesser extent.