A few weeks ago rookie receiver Hunter Renfrow was sat down with a rib injury. Soon after, head coach Jon Gruden put week 16 against the Chargers as his target for Renfrow to return from that injury. That week is upon us.
Last week Renfrow returned to practice for the first time since the injury, but he wasn’t ready yet last week against the Jaguars. He appears to be ready now and could see a new role — punt returner.
“He did practice today in our indoor facility,” Gruden said of Renfrow who was listed on the injury report as a limited participant. . . “we’re trying to play him, perhaps let him catch a few punts, that’s another position that obviously we’ve had a lot of turnover at, so the plan is to play Hunter a little bit, get him back on the grass.”
Renfrow has fielded just one punt this season, and it was a fair catch. When he was lost to his injury Trevor Davis was still the primary punt returner. Davis has since been released, leaving the position up for grabs.
Over the first 12 weeks of the season, Renfrow had become one of the more reliable receivers on the team as the primary slot receiver, putting up 36 catches for 396 yards with 2 touchdowns. It would help the team a great deal if he could get back to doing some of that as well.
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