Explosive Hester hopes to make return trip to end zone

Devin Hester set the bar ridiculously high in his first two seasons, breaking NFL records with five kick return TDs in 2006 and six in 2007. After he failed to reach the end zone on special teams last year, what’s the plan to get him back on track? 
He’s going to be a starter [at receiver] and I think he feels a lot more comfortable with the offense now. So I think that returning can come back into the forefront for him. He wants to be back there. He showed that during OTAs and the offseason.

Will the approach with him be any different?
Not really. Late last season we talked a lot about taking the ball and getting north and south, hitting returns and getting your 10 yards, and then anything after that is a bonus. I think he’s on board with what we’re talking about. Most importantly, some of our young guys on special teams are now older, so we have a real good nucleus of guys having a year under their belt. Those young players now are going to be taking another step. And he was hitting his stride toward the end of last year. We busted a couple of long  returns.

What do you think accounted for his decline in the return game and how confident are you that he will regain the form he displayed in 2006-07?
I think it was a combination of a couple of things. We had a lot of young players blocking for him, so he had a different picture of what was in front of him. And then taking a lot of reps at wide receiver was a factor too. But he’s still the same guy. He still makes people miss. He’s got great vision. He’s still a threat back there. He still has a lot of respect from other teams. Teams aren’t going to just want to punt him the ball, I guarantee that.

How much of a luxury was it for you to be able to replace Devin on kickoff returns with someone like Danieal Manning, who ended up leading the NFL with a 29.7-yard average?
We’re very fortunate to have two guys at such a high level. Danieal is a Pro Bowl-caliber kick returner. The way he finished up last year in the last seven games was unbelievable. He’s so strong and tough. We’re lucky to have two guys. I wouldn’t feel bad having Devin back there also. He’s still better than 95 percent of the returners out there.



(chicagobears.com)