Tag: kick returns

Saints fear ‘significant’ turf toe injury for WR Deonte Harty

Saints fear ‘significant’ turf toe injury for returns specialist Deonte Harty

There’s bad news for Deonte Harty. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill first reported that Harty was diagnosed with a turf toe injury after exiting Sunday’s win against the Seattle Seahawks, and it might end his season. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport adds that Harty will receive a second opinion on the injury, but it’s believed he’ll be facing a months-long recovery.

If that’s the case, it sounds like a similar injury to what rookie left tackle Trevor Penning suffered in the preseason, which has sidelined him until at least November. It’s a really tough break for Harty in a contract year. He hasn’t found much success on special teams (returning 3 punts for 8 yards, and 6 kicks for 137 yards, an average of 22.8 yards per kick return) or offense (catching 2 receptions for 13 yards), but it’s not for lack of trying — if anything, he’s been trying too hard to make something out of nothing. Hopefully his injury isn’t as severe as feared and he’s able to return to good health soon.

So how do the Saints adjust without him? It probably isn’t sustainable to keep asking Taysom Hill to return kicks, entertaining as that has been; Jarvis Landry and Marquez Callaway have helped field punts, but neither has been particularly effective in the role. The only other Saints player to return kicks in the preseason was wide receiver Kirk Merritt and running back Tony Jones Jr., who was waived Saturday and could re-sign with the practice squad.

But the smart pick may be Rashid Shaheed. The undrafted rookie out of Weber State was unavailable for most of the season while recovering from an ACL injury but he brings an impressive college resume with a school record in kickoff return yards per try (29.1) and the all-time FCS record for kickoff return touchdowns (7). He’s the only player in school history to earn All-American recognition four times, largely for his efforts in the return game. If he’s healthy, he should get called up from the practice squad to try his hand on special teams.

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Titans coach Mike Vrabel wary of ‘very fearless’ Deonte Harris

Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel has been frustrated by special teams; now he has to prepare for New Orleans Saints returner Deonte Harris

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Somehow, the New Orleans Saints found a rookie Pro Bowl returns specialist in undrafted free agency. Deonte Harris has been a revelation for the Saints in 2019 despite his overlooked pedigree as a NCAA record-setter out of Assumption College (a small liberal arts school in Worcester, Mass.). Harris missed two games with a hamstring injury and still leads the NFL in punt return yards (298, the most of any player in the Sean Payton era), ranking second-best in yards per punt return (9.9). He’s also ranked seventh overall in kick return yards (494) and sixth in yards per kick return (24.7).

And he’s a headache for Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel to prepare for. The Titans have one of the NFL’s worst punt coverage units, allowing the sixth-most yards gained per punt return (9.3). They’re more of a middle-of-the-pack squad when covering kickoffs (22.3 yards allowed per kick return) with a season-long of just 32 yards. Still, Harris has proven he has the acceleration to punish teams that can’t maintain lane discipline or are slow to crash down on him.

It’s something Vrabel is well aware of. He’s done his homework on the Saints special teams unit and Harris in particular; when asked to describe the rookie Pro Bowler during his conference call with New Orleans media, Vrabel was mindful of Harris’s skills and the group the Saints have surrounded him with: “Very fearless. They’ve got a very good special teams group. They’ve blocked punts. They have returned kicks for touchdowns, and Harris is explosive and he’s tough, and he is physical. That is a pretty good quality to have as far as (a) returner.”

Still, finding success on special teams requires more effort that you can get out of a one-man band. The Saints have invested a lot of resources in revamping their performance in the third phase of the game, and Vrabel credited them for that, continuing, “Like I said, they have a lot of great special teams players, (J.T.) Gray, (Justin) Hardee, (Taysom) Hill and obviously (Dwayne) Washington because of blocked punts and their gunners are excellent. With the kickers, Pro Bowl kicker (Wil Lutz), (and with Thomas Morstead) obviously a great punting team as well.”

Whether the Saints special teams units have a great day against the Titans can’t be said yet. Things look terrific on paper, but they still have to play the game, and New Orleans knows as well as any team that there’s no such thing as a guaranteed win — remember that time a 1-7 Atlanta Falcons team beat the 7-1 Saints at home, coming off of a bye week? At least the Saints have remained focused since that upset. If they can carry over the positive momentum they established on Monday night against the Indianapolis Colts, things just might go according to plan.

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