Indianapolis Colts running back Nyheim Hines had a career day Sunday when he took two punt returns for touchdowns in the 38-6 win against the Carolina Panthers at Lucas Oil Stadium.
It’s clear the impact Hines has as a punt returner and the job is likely his to lose entering the offseason. The second-year back told reporters what he saw that helped lead him to making some franchise history as the first Colts player to record two punt return touchdowns in a game.
“The kick, I see the kicker kick the ball. He has a lot of distance, not really high in the air, when I look down and I see all the other 10 guys blocking, I know I have space,” Hines told reporters. “So when I can catch the ball and look down that means those guys have already done their job. Honestly, when I make one or two guys miss that’s not really me that’s the rest of the guys on the team. On both returns, I think I had to make one or two guys miss and everybody else was blocked. That’s the return guys that’s not really me. So, I wish I could bring them all up here for me. Those are the guys that really made it happen.”
Hines had a truly special day returning punts. Though he only had three returns, he took them for 195 yards and two touchdowns. His first return was for 40 yards and set up an eventual touchdown on the first offensive drive. Then his next two were touchdowns from 84 and 71 yards, respectively.
The progression of Hines has been happening throughout his first two seasons in the NFL, and he has become a unique player in the mind of Frank Reich.
“He’s such a unique player. He’s a true three-down back. He can do special things in the pass game. We try to get him a handful of touches every game,” Reich said after the game. “You’ve still got to spread the ball around. What’s great about Nyheim (Hines) is he literally works extremely hard on every little detail and every assignment.”
The Colts have just one more game left before the season officially ends but it seems Hines has a role to lose as the punt returner.