Frustrated Hester stumbles from swagger to stagger
Hester expresses frustration for failure to find end zone, live up to $40M deal
November 20, 2008
BY BRAD BIGGS bbiggs@suntimes.com
The surest sign Devin Hester doesn't have his edge as a return man can be found in opponents' game plans.
They're kicking to him these days without fear of reprisal. That's what Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy said after Hester was bottled up in the Packers' 37-3 victory over the Bears on Sunday at Lambeau Field. The Packers found out what the league slowly is discovering: The Bears' return game has gone from ridiculous to ordinary.
Now Hester prepares to return to the scene of his national coming-out party while the Bears consider involving Danieal Manning more in the return game. As a rookie in 2006, Hester had 94- and 96-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns at St. Louis on ''Monday Night Football.'' It was only his second game returning kickoffs.
Most figured Hester would own all significant NFL return records by the second half of this season. Instead, he's 10 games in, wondering what happened.
''It's tough,'' he said. ''Not only to myself, to the fans, to the team. I set a high standard for myself, not only for myself, but outsiders, that I'm that guy that's going to take five, six returns to the house, and I haven't taken none. It's tough on me. I don't even like going outside now. I've just got to find that edge and overcome it.
''I could sit here and say it's my fault, but there are 11 guys out there on the field. I'm not the only one out there. I know at the end of the day I get blamed for the return game.''
Inconsistency has plagued Hester and the return teams. He had a 48-yard kickoff return at Green Bay nullified by a penalty, and in the last six games, he has had a 31-yarder and a 41-yarder. Punt returns have been even more challenging; he has only two longer than 13 yards. At times, he has been hesitant and has looked for things that aren't there. At times, the blocking hasn't been there.
The Bears have tried to stay a step ahead of their competition. They were getting so many bloop kicks earlier in the season that special-teams coordinator Dave Toub has put other capable returners on the field to catch short kicks. Lately, opponents have been kicking it deep and covering the plays.
Hester signed a four-year, $40 million contract extension at the start of training camp and naturally feels pressure to perform.
''I've been trying to dodge talking about it, but now I'm going to go ahead and express my feelings,'' he said. ''I'm frustrated. It's hard. And I want to get back to where I was, not only as a player but as the home-run hitter.
''The return game was basically my success in football, and now that it's not there, it's tough, being just that football player that everybody knew about.''
Hester's performance probably would not be magnified if his transition to offense had taken off more. The talk of the summer was how he could develop into a No. 1 receiver, but the plan of getting the ball in his hands at least five times a game on offense was lost somewhere between camp and the regular season. He has 26 receptions and three rushes in nine games.
So the natural thing to do is go back to what he's known for best -- being the most electric return man to play the game -- and see what is happening there. Not much.
The Bears have been looking at what worked the previous two seasons, when they returned 11 kickoffs and punts for touchdowns. The Rams offer an opportunity to get good in a hurry. They're 26th in the league in covering kickoffs and 25th in covering punts.
''He probably has good memories about playing in that dome,'' coach Lovie Smith said. ''Hopefully we can get it back. We're looking for any little thing that'll give us a boost and get all of us going -- Devin and our entire team.''
As lousy as the Bears' field position has been the last two games, any help the return game can provide an offense that has scored 17 points the last eight quarters would be useful.
''The whole return game was always fighting, and guys were competing,'' Hester said. ''I don't know, we just had that swagger where we knew that each and every week we were going to have a big game returning, and we've just got to find that swagger and bring it back.''
