FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Falcons special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong says punt returns are like snowflakes, no two are ever exactly alike.
So, perhaps, are football players.
With the Falcons’ loss of Harry Douglas, who skillfully performed the dual roles of No. 3 wide receiver and punt returner but is now gone for the season because of an ACL injury, the team must see if there's someone so alike Douglas that he can replicate both of those duties.
The quest to replace Douglas is ongoing.
Eric Weems, fresh off his 34-yard return on Saturday in the first preseason game, appears to have a leg up as the starting punt returner. He also has played well at receiver and had two catches for 25 yards on Saturday, but so has the veteran Marty Booker who also had two receptions in the preseason game. A host of others, including Brian Finneran and veteran Robert Ferguson at the receiver spot and wide receiver Chandler Williams and cornerback Brent Grimes at punt returner, also are in the mix to fill Douglas’ speedy shoes.
“That very well could be the case in terms of the third receiver may be someone different than the punt returner,” Head Coach Mike Smith said. “I was very pleased the way Eric Weems caught the ball the other night, as well as Chandler Williams.
“These next three games are going to be very important to determine who’s going to be our punt returner and Harry’s a hard guy to replace. The second half of the season he did an outstanding job returning punts.”
Weems and Booker are approaching at their respective opportunities from different perspectives. Weems, 24, is in his third year with the Falcons, but has only played in seven NFL games and caught one pass. Booker, 33, is an 11-year veteran with 523 career receptions for 6,522 yards and 36 touchdowns. He played with Chicago last year but was in Miami in 2006 when Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey held the same position and also in 2007 when Mularkey served as the Dolphins’ tight ends coach.
Booker is somewhat familiar with Mularkey’s offense, but Smith said he still needs to get “the verbiage down.”
“Marty’s really fit in well in terms of the room,” Smith said. “He has a good understanding of the game of football… and I think he’s getting more comfortable every day.”
Booker said one of the challenges for him was the fact that the Bears cut him in February and while he’s worked out on his own, he’s been out of football for six months. No offseason team activities, no chance to learn a playbook. Only waiting by the phone for a offer to play.
“Working out and [being] out here doing it is two different things,” Booker said. “I’m still trying to catch up. These guys have a week on me. They know their playbook… Once I get my plays down all the football stuff will come natural.”
Booker said the playbook has some “tweaks” that are different from his Miami days, but added that as “far as the main concept of things, I pretty much understand everything.”
Meanwhile, Weems said his long return on Saturday made him “feel great.” He did make one mistake, failing to field a punt that bounced inside the Falcons’ 20-yard line and that the Lions downed inside the 5. But a penalty bailed him out of that one.
The Falcons have their share of players, like Finneran, whom they know can catch punts, but they are looking for someone who can earn them big yardage. Armstrong explained the complexities involved in the position with his snowflake analogy.
A punt returner has to read the ball’s hang time, the coverage and his position on the field, all of which vary from punt to punt.
“There’s all kinds of variables,” Armstrong said. “…Everything ties down to the coverage versus the return relationship: The height of the ball, where the ball is, the placement of the ball. So they’re all different and that’s why you’ve got to get out and do it and that’s why you see us practicing the drill over and over and over and over again.”
The trickiest situation for a punt returner to handle, Armstrong said, is the one in which the opponent is kicking from the receiving team’s side of the 50 yard line. Returners are taught never to back up past the 10 yard line -- the hope being the ball will bounce into the end zone for a touchback before the coverage team can get it -- but anything in front of that the returner must field.
Crouching his long lean frame to demonstrate the technique, the coach said the returner has to smother the ball like a goalie after it bounces once at most.
“You get 2 yards and get tackled at the 17,” Armstrong said. “Everyone says that’s a bad play. No, you kept it from rolling down there to the 2-yard line. That’s the whole point about that.”
In that sense, Armstrong praised the jobs done by Weems and Williams last Saturday with the one exception that was negated by the penalty.
Asked what Douglas excelled at, Armstrong said it was the fundamentals.
“I think the biggest thing Harry did was he caught the ball and got up the field,” he said. “… If you catch it and get up the field, that’s the biggest key. When you dance, coverage is closing on you. So unless you have unique speed you need to catch it and get going, because everyone can run.”
Closing -- just like the opportunities at training camp.
Day 18 -- Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009
8:30 a.m./3:45 p.m. Practice
@FalconsJMoore "Words of the Day"
- TRANSCRIPT: Head Coach Mike Smith talks about camp
- FEATURE: Changes ahead for receiver, return spots
- VIDEO: Head Coach Mike Smith | Middleton | Nicholas
- BLOGS: Familiar Foes (Time Machine) | Workout Warrior (PR Blog)
- BLOGS: J. Michael Moore's blog posts from Aug. 18, 2009
