Chicago Bears wide receiver/returner Devin Hester is, to put it mildly, dangerous.
The sixth-year pro is second in NFL history with 18 total return touchdowns, including 12 punt returns, 5 kickoff returns and one missed field goal return.
Champ Bailey is plenty familiar with the way Hester can change a game, as Hester returned a punt and kickoff for touchdowns en route to a 37-34 Bears victory in Denver the last time the two teams faced off.
“We know what type of player he is,” Bailey said, adding that he wouldn’t kick to Hester “in a million years.” “You don’t take any chances with the guy. He’s the best in the game, the best ever in my book.”
When asked whether he would kick to Hester, Brian Dawkins seemed to have a different view.
“Oh yeah,” he said, pausing. “Out of bounds. Straight out of bounds.”
After drawing a laugh from the media, the veteran safety elaborated.
“He’s a huge, tremendous weapon,” he said. “This cat is gifted to do things that, obviously, no one’s been able to do the way he’s done it in a short period of time. You can have coaches that beat their chests, ‘We’re going to kick it to him; we’re going have coverage behind, though.’ If you ask me, if I’m the coach, I’m kicking it straight out of bounds — right toward him — but out of bounds, so if he does catch it, he’s going to be tiptoeing the sideline as he falls out of bounds.”
Head Coach John Fox said on Wednesday that he doesn’t want to give away the team’s plans regarding Hester, only that “we are aware of him and he’s a great player.”
Britton Colquitt, the punter potentially tasked with avoiding the league’s most dangerous returner, said there are a variety of ways to accomplish that task.
“I’d love to say I could do what [Oakland P Shane] Lechler did and kick it over his head 80 yards, but it’s not easy,” he said. “It just depends on where we are on the field. He’s a great returner, but we have a great coverage unit. Sometimes, when you try to go out of bounds, you don’t have as good of a hit, and sometimes you just hit a good 35- or 40-yard fair catch ball. He’ll still try to fair catch it, too, if you hit it high enough.”
In the end, Colquitt said he’ll look to do his job the way he has done it the previous 12 games. He currently ranks third in the league in net punting average with 41.6 yards per kick. At his current pace, he would set a new franchise record.
He doesn’t want to adjust his style too much just because of the returner he’s facing.
“He’s waiting for that,” Colquitt said. “He wants guys to be like, ‘I’m going to kick away from you.’”
“You’ve just got to be on your game all the time.”
Below are photos from Thursday’s practice.
-Gray Caldwell
Tags: Brian Dawkins, Britton Colquitt, Champ Bailey, Chicago Bears, Devin Hester, Week 14
And Jax has no d to back them up.
And the real issue with Briggs is he knows that the Bears are going in a losing tail spin and flirting with not making the playoffs. HaHa!!
DA BEARS
“I got a shotgun,a rifle and a 4 wheel drive,and a country boy can survive.”
I think Hank jr wrote that song about me,lol.
Bay,weatherman, I live in between Nashville and The Great Smoky Mountains,actually 60 miles from Knoxville,it’s pretty isolated here,but I like it.
Bay would like Ober Gatlinburg,the 2nd best rated ski resort in the country,2nd to some place in Colorado.
weatherman we do have the best spring water in the world.
And Hell no I didn’t get a deer this morning,guess I’ll have to quit passing on the big does and take one,meat taste the same,just don’t have the satisfaction of getting that trophy Buck!
T.G.I.F.
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!
Fresh meat.
BFE, a friend of mine went Elk hunting and got himself a Elk. In the proccess of getting his meat soon. I`m heading to his place for his Packers game and our Broncos N.E. game after this sunday. He lives aways away from me. He makes his own home made Brewskys and I can`t wait to sink me teeth into some Jerk and steak. Wow!!
Elk Jerky, Ha!!
new blog.