With the NFL experimenting with a rule change to reduce the number of kickoff returns this year, at least one team is willing to take a chance.
Of course, their returner has to get well first.
The Falcons seem inclined to let Devin Hester take kickoffs out of the end zone because of his track record as a returner, as soon as Hester is recovered from a toe injury which limited him last season.
“There are special players like Dev and other returners around the league, they’ll still get green-lighted,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Here’s a guy who is on the club for this unique reason.”
The 33-year-old Hester played in only five games last year, but averaged 26.1 yards on nine kickoff returns. But he’s shown such a knack for big plays in his career that Quinn might resist the temptation to take the easy 25 yards for a touchback.
But for now, they have to get him well after he underwent toe surgery in January, which should shelve him for three to six months.
“He’s able to do certain things, but he can’t fully do it all,” Quinn said. “I don’t know that I have a timeline for it, but we’re hopeful that it’s prior to camp. But as far as OTAs, I don’t know. That toe has got to be right, and we’re not going to put him out there until it is.”
And once he’s back out there, they might be inclined to take kicks out of the end zone, despite the league openly trying to discourage it.
