Bill Belichick’s process to identify punt returners seems fairly simple
Ever since cornerback Cyrus Jones went down with a torn ACL, the Patriots have been looking to fill their void at the position of punt returner. Danny Amendola initially may have been a viable candidate, but the wide receiver has been ruled out for Sunday’s game after leaving the season opener with a concussion.
On Friday, head coach Bill Belichick was asked about what he looks for in players who might be a good match for the job.
We saw Chris Hogan return some punts in pregame last week before Kansas City, which I don’t believe he has experience doing before, either in college or in the NFL. How do you identify which players might have the skill set to perform those duties when you haven’t seen them do it on film before?
Put them back there and watch them catch them.
Is it a tryout basis essentially?
Well, yeah, eventually that’s what it comes to. You put them back there, see how the handle the ball, coach them a little bit, the flight of the ball, teach them how to read the kick and so forth, how it’s going to break and whether it’s long, short, breaking left or right, whatever it happens to be. If they show promise, then keep working with them.
Is punt returning one of the toughest things to simulate in practice since you can’t account for some game factors?
Well, I mean it’s the same with everything. We can turn the music up just like we can turn it up for the offense. I mean, look, practice is practice. It’s the closest we can get to simulating a game. It’s not game conditions but it’s as close as we can get.
Players that can perform in practice I think have a chance to perform in the game. It’s still another level. It’s another step, but if you can’t do it consistently in practice then it’s pretty unlikely it’s going to happen consistently in a game. That’s really true of every position on the field. I can’t think of one that wouldn’t fall into that category.
You do what you can do. You make it as realistic as you can make it, or in some cases maybe you make it a little bit harder where you can in some areas and then the game is the game. It’s a different speed. It’s a different level.
