Tag: Punt Return

Cowboys rookie Deuce Vaughn returning punts at practice with Turpin nursing shoulder

From @ToddBrock24f7: KaVontae Turpin’s shoulder forced Vaughn into punt-return duties at practice Thursday; the rookie may be in line to do it vs the Giants.

KaVontae Turpin did not practice for a second straight day as he rehabs a shoulder injury suffered last week in Philadelphia. And while Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy didn’t seem overly concerned with his availability moving forward, Turpin’s status heading into Week 10 is suddenly something to watch.

Thursday’s practice workload revealed that a Turpin absence on Sunday might just crack the door open for a highly-anticipated rookie to get some much-needed game reps, albeit in a role he’s largely unfamiliar with.

Turpin sat out Wednesday and was considered questionable again on Thursday, McCarthy told reporters. The coach said he would be either working with the rehab group or, at best, limited, but media members present for practice later reported him as a non-participant for the open portion of the session.

If Turpin cannot go this Sunday, the Cowboys will obviously have to decide who fills in for him as he continues to grow into an increasing role in the Dallas offense.

The bigger worry, though, if Turpin’s shoulder doesn’t cooperate, is re-assigning his return duties. He’s averaging 31.7 yards per kick return, placing him within the league’s top ten. As a punt returner, he’s had just 10 runbacks; his 11 fair catches are top-ten in the league and an indicator of how often opponents are only giving him balls that cannot be returned.

But Turpin is the only player on the Cowboys roster who has done both return jobs this season. Rico Dowdle and Hunter Luepke have handled five kicks between them in 2023, while Jalen Tolbert and Deuce Vaughn have fielded one punt each.

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Reporters at Thursday’s practice session observed Dowdle, Vaughn, and safety Juanyeh Thomas practicing kick returns while Vaughn was taking reps as a punt returner, with Turpin giving him close coaching.

The sixth-round draft pick has been inactive the past three games and was largely ineffective on the handful of snaps he played over the first five weeks.

Vaughn’s 10-yard punt return against San Francisco in Week 5 was his first at either the pro or college level.

But the 5-foot-5 rookie running back showed blistering speed and shiftiness throughout training camp, just as he had done collegiately at Kansas State. Depending on Turpin’s shoulder, Vaughn may finally get the chance to put those skills on display at the pro level in a brand new way.

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Cowboys’ Turpin doesn’t expect Eagles to punt to him: ‘Teams are still scared of me’

From @ToddBrock24f7: The speedy returner had an 87-yard TD called back by penalty last week; Eagles punter Braden Mann has allowed just three returns in 6 games.

On the 39th punt return of his pro career, KaVontae Turpin thought he had finally broken one off.

The Cowboys speedster had first shown off his formidable skills in 2022’s preseason with two returns (one punt, one kickoff) for scores in an August outing against the Chargers. In that one exhibition performance, the USFL phenom solidified his spot on the Cowboys roster, but he also effectively alerted every other team in the league that kicking the ball to him at all is playing with fire.

And so after a season and a half of returning punts, the presumptive most dangerous return man in the game has just a 9.4-yard average… and zero touchdowns.

Thanks only to a penalty flag late in Sunday’s blowout win over the Rams.

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Turpin’s electrifying end-zone dash was brought back on Nahshon Wright’s hold. The 87-yard house call instead went in the books as a harmless six-yard return.

And Turpin believes it may have just reminded upcoming Cowboys opponents- like the division-leading Eagles in Week 9- not to even crack the door open for him.

“Teams are still scared of me, so I don’t think I’ll get any more chances, to be real with you,” Turpin told reporters this week at The Star.

He may be right, at least this week.

A quick look at the Eagles’ season stats show a potential weakness in their punt coverage game. They’ve given up 14.7 punt return yards per game, fourth-highest in the NFL.

Arryn Siposs was Philadelphia’s punter for the first two weeks of the season. Five of his punts were returned for 40 total yards. But then Philadelphia made a quick change and brought in Braden Mann starting in Week 3. In the six games that followed, Mann has punted 10 times; only three were returned.

But those three returns all went for double-digit yards.

Granted, the Eagles famously don’t let Mann stray too far or too often from the sideline Gatorade table, what with all of their tush-pushing on fourth-and-short (or simply not getting themselves to fourth down in the first place).

When he does come on to boot it away, Mann tends to keep it away. But when there’s a return, there’s the potential for fireworks. If Turpin can get his hands on a punt with enough space to get even a couple steps, he could be racing all the way to the Rocky steps at some point Sunday.

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As long as the other 10 Cowboys special teamers can keep Lincoln Financial’s field a laundry-free zone.

“It’s frustrating because I don’t get too many chances in the return game,” Turpin admitted. “So when I do get a chance, I don’t want to see any flags, especially when I take it all the way.

“At the same time, I tell my guys to go out there and block as hard as they can. But that just comes with football. We’re going to get another chance sooner or later.”

The Cowboys are hoping for sooner.

We’ll see if Mann and the Eagles play ball.

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Reviewing the Chiefs’ punt returner options in 2023

Who are the #Chiefs best options at punt returner in 2023? @WesleyRoesch reviews the options.

The Chiefs’ punt return squad went out with a bang in Super Bowl LVII, which makes it easy to forget that the team was actually a disaster on punt returns for the majority of their last campaign.

It’s covered in more detail in my 2022 Chiefs special teams review, but essentially Kansas City had a bottom-10 punt return squad last season. Much of that was due to players’ individual struggle, but a sort of musical chairs approach to the punt returner role by the team’s coaching staff didn’t seem to help either.

The answer of who the team’s best player is at the position is still in question as the Chiefs begin training camp. Special teams coordinator Dave Toub has a handful of intriguing prospects — both rookies and veterans — to try out. Below are the players expected to compete for the punt returner role for the Chiefs:

Desmond King set personal best mark with 50 yard punt return vs. Browns

King’s 50-yard punt return against the #Browns was the longest of his career

The Houston Texans’ special teams unit has played well in comparison to their struggling offense and seemed to gain traction against the Cleveland Browns in Week 13 on the strength of a long punt return by cornerback Desmond King II. His 50-yard scamper was the longest punt return of his career, and though it didn’t affect the game’s final outcome, it was a good indication that the unit is trending in the right direction in the last weeks of the 2022 season.

For his part, King has proven to be a premium playmaker for Houston and uses his exceptional abilities to give the Texans any field position advantage he can to assist the offense in their quest to score points. Clearly, his efforts haven’t been the difference between wins and losses this season for the team, but as he continues to settle into his role, fans should expect more impressive plays from him.

The Texans will face a fierce opponent in the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and will need any edge they can find to get a win over their intrastate rival against all odds. Their 1-10-1 record is indicative of the uphill battle they’ll face against the 9-3 Cowboys, who are considered among the best teams in the NFC with the playoffs quickly approaching.

Houston will need King to make the most of every opportunity he gets to flip field position against Dallas, and with another big return he could set the Texans up for success in this Lonestar State showdown. Kyle Allen and the rest of Houston’s offense will need to maximize their chances against the Cowboys’ exceptional defense to make good on any advantage King provides them, and with a few improvements over last week’s game plan, the team might be able to pull off the upset and secure their second win of the year.

Punts could provide big opportunities when Cowboys face vulnerable Packers in Week 10

Green Bay gives up punt return yardage and are susceptible to blocked kicks. Both bode well for KaVontae Turpin and Dallas special teams. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The numbers seem to suggest that Cowboys return specialist KaVontae Turpin is due to house-call a punt return sometime soon.

The schedule suggests it might even happen the next time Dallas takes the field, with an upcoming opponent who is particularly vulnerable to problems on both ends of their punts.

Cowboys players and coaches are enjoying their bye week and using the time to recuperate before beginning Week 10 game prep in earnest. But the Nov. 13 trip to Green Bay has been circled on the calendar since the day schedules were released.

And while much of the focus that day will be on Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy’s return to Lambeau Field, the undrafted rookie Turpin is no doubt hoping he’ll be able to make a leap of his own by finally returning a punt to the end zone.

He did it in the preseason, and he’s come close this regular season. Turpin is averaging 14.7 yards per punt return, placing him third leaguewide. He’s one of just four players with three returns of 20 yards or more, and he has the NFL’s second-longest punt return (52 yards) through eight weeks of play.

“I keep getting caught by the last person,” Turpin said after the 24-6 Dallas win over Detroit, “so I just feel like I’ve got to break one.”

An extra week of rest may help him get over the hump. Goodness knows down time is not something Turpin is used to.

Having been signed by Dallas in July shortly after his USFL MVP season ended- and coming to that league directly from rapid-fire stints in the Fan Controlled Football league, The Spring League, and the European League of Football- Turpin hasn’t gotten a breather from football in quite some time.

“He’s been playing year-round football for a couple years,” Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel said this week. “Not that I feel like he needs one, but any mental or physical break he can get, I think, is good for him because he’s been going for a while.”

But Fassel says he’s given no thought to giving Turpin a punt off here or there, even with him getting increased chances on offense.

“He needs to be back there. Limited opportunities, anyway, whether it’s a touchback or a fair catch or punts out of bounds. Anytime a ball’s in bounds, he needs to be back there,” Fassel reassured. “He’s in it for the long haul.”

But truth be told, Fassel may also be hoping that his 4th-down crew can cause some chaos of their own before the punts in Green Bay even make it to Turpin’s hands.

The Packers are currently atop the wrong kind of list, allowing record pressure on their punter in 2022.

Two teams have given up an official blocked punt this season; Green Bay is one of them.

The Jets got to Packers punter Pat O’Donnell in Week 6 and turned the double-thud into six points after safety Will Parks alerted his coaches to a pressure opportunity.

“That was a specific thing that we saw today, during the game. That was an adjustment,” said Parks, who recorded the scoop-and-score in the Jets’ win. “I came up to [New York special teams coordinator Brant Boyer] and I said something, and he dialed up that play.”

Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, who used to hold the same role in Dallas, took the blame afterward and said he sent in “a bad protection call” that allowed Jets rookie Micheal Clemons to penetrate for the block.

Whoever was at fault, now it’s on tape for other teams to try to exploit when they play Green Bay.

The other team to have allowed a punt block this year? The Rams, who have given up two, one apiece to Atlanta and… the Cowboys.

It’s not hard to imagine Fassel already looking ahead, burning the midnight oil over the bye week, and devising ways to similarly release the hounds on O’Donnell.

So the Packers may have to pick their poison when it comes to punt plays against Dallas.

Because even if the Packers punter manages to get all of his kicks away cleanly, Green Bay’s coverage team is allowing an average of 10.85 yards per punt return, seventh-worst in the NFL.

That smells like it could be Turpin Time.

Either way, fourth down may not be the best time for Cowboys fans to take a snack break when they hit the field again in Week 10.

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‘Huge aspirations for him’: Cowboys special teams guru raves about newcomer KaVontae Turpin

The USFL MVP has made big waves in just a week at camp, and seems to be the leading candidate to return punts for the club in 2022. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The thing about lightning in a bottle is, it’s still lightning. It’s awfully hard to predict when it’s going to strike or where it’s going to come from.

Even as the Cowboys assembled in southern California for training camp the last week of July, it seemed, to outside observers, that their 91-man summer roster was set.

And then KaVontae Turpin happened.

After helping his New Jersey Generals team to a 9-1 record, the MVP of the USFL’s comeback season this past spring inked a three-year deal with the team. In just over a week’s time, the 5-foot-9-inch, 158-pound speedster (some outlets list him even smaller) has made a huge impression on coaches.

“I think there’s probably been a lot of proof of a lot of little guys that are really, really good,” special teams coordinator John Fassel told the media this week in Oxnard. “Eric Metcalf- I don’t know his size. Dante Hall- maybe a little bit thicker, but Turp’s probably a little bit quicker. So I think there’s a lot; Tyreek [Hill]- obviously, he may be a little but thicker. I just know when we practice against the little guys and play against the little guys, they’re really hard to see behind blockers. And then if you can ever see them, it’s really hard to get a clean shot on them. So for those little, quick, fast guys, you’ve got to populate-tackle them, and if you don’t, you don’t ever really get clean shots. I think it’s a little bit overrated- the impact of a little guy taking big body blows- because they just don’t seem to take those. I’m excited to see what he does.”

In fact, “Bones” was so juiced at the prospect of the Cowboys acquiring the former local college star that he offered to cut his family vacation short to help oversee Turpin’s workout with the club.

“I was actually, when we worked him out back in Dallas, I was with my family in Idaho,” Fassel explained, “and I texted Will [McClay, vice president of player personnel]. I said, ‘Will, if you want me to come back for this workout, I’ll come back.'”

Fassel was told to remain with his family, but his wheels were already turning over a player he was quite familiar with.

“He’s been on my radar since 2018. Clearly at TCU, I watched every single one of his returns, but then keeping an eye on him over the course of his Fan [Controlled] Football league and Spring League and then USFL. I’ve seen all of that work. When we found out he was on our radar, I was very hopeful, and obviously when we signed him, super excited. He’s got a long ways to go to compete, but I think this is a team that has a potential role for him, and I hope he exploits it.”

So far, so good.

“I have huge aspirations for him,” Fassel made it clear.

But the 26-year-old rookie has also shown impressive hands and toughness as he drills with the depleted Cowboys receiving corps. He even took snaps at running back on Thursday, with the team down several rushers.

His clearest path to the regular-season roster, though, may be as a return man. While Turpin led the USFL in receiving yards this past season, he also had the league’s only kick return for a touchdown. Collegiately with the Horned Frogs, he had two more kick returns for touchdowns, and he scored on a punt return in each of his four seasons.

With CeeDee Lamb now serving as WR1 in Dallas, there’s an opportunity for a punt return specialist. Third-round draft pick Jalen Tolbert has done a bit of work there this camp, but Turpin seems to have emerged as the frontrunner for the gig.

Fassel and the Cowboys are hoping that Turpin can uncork that lightning in a bottle several times this season and provide a big-time spark on a unit where making a splash is the name of the game.

“Every year we get the rookies and it seems like none of them played special teams in college, and if they did it was three years ago when they were a freshman,” Fassel told reporters. “So honestly, my funnest challenge in training camp is to take these guys who maybe don’t know this is going to be their role- even though that’s what it’s going to be- and to make them really, really damn good at it because that’s what their role is going to be and they really don’t know how to do it. … Part of my thing, too, is to make special teams attractive. Like, this is your role and this is a great way to instill yourself in the National Football League.”

KaVontae Turpin is well on his way, just a week into his NFL career.

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Packers give up first punt return for touchdown in the NFL this season

The Packers gave up the first punt return touchdown in the NFL this season, a 97-yarder to Jakeem Grant on Sunday night.

The struggling special teams of the Green Bay Packers earned an undesirable distinction on Sunday night against the Chicago Bears: Matt LaFleur’s team became the first club to allow a punt return for a touchdown in the NFL during the 2021 season.

Jakeem Grant fielded a punt at the 3-yard, danced around defenders and raced up the sideline for a 97-yard touchdown in the second quarter at Lambeau Field.

The Packers coverage team had Grant surrounded inside the 5-yard line, but he escaped, and once he found a crease, there was no catching him.

It took 14 weeks for the NFL to get a punt return touchdown, but Maurice Drayton’s crew was probably a favorite to be the special teams group to finally allow one.

According to the Bears, Grant’s 97-yard return is the longest punt return for a touchdown by the team since at least 1960. It’s also tied for the 10th longest punt return in NFL history.

The previous longest punt return in the NFL this season? A 48-yarder from Detroit’s Kalif Raymond.

The Packers special teams have been a disaster so far on Sunday night. The Bears have two kick returns of at least 40 yards, and Grant has 131 punt-return yards so far.

The Bears lead at the half at Lambeau Field, 27-21.

Chiefs DB Tyrann Mathieu lobbying to return a punt this season

#Chiefs DB Tyrann Mathieu was a stud punt return specialist at #LSU and now he’s lobbying for an opportunity to return a punt in 2021.

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Kansas City Chiefs DB Tyrann Mathieu wants to take on another job responsibility at some point this season, one that will help him relive his glory days at LSU.

Mathieu is a leader on the defensive side of the ball, playing snaps from a number of different alignments for Kansas City. He wants an opportunity to play with a different unit, though, and it isn’t the Chiefs’ high-powered offense. Mathieu tweeted on Saturday that he implored special teams coach Dave Toub for an opportunity to return a punt this season.

“I’ve been begging coach for a punt return,” Mathieu wrote on Twitter.

Mathieu hasn’t played much on special teams in the NFL, with just three combined career kick and punt returns in eight seasons. However, when he played at LSU in 2011, he was one of the most electric punt returners that college football had seen.

That year, Mathieu returned 27 punts for 421 yards and two touchdowns, including a long return of 92 yards. You can check out some of his punt return highlights down below:

Toub is unlikely to agree to Mathieu’s request, knowing how important he is to the defense. He’s already stopped using Tyreek Hill on kick returns for the same reason. Toub does still keep the option of using Hill in his back pocket for a rainy day. As a result, opposing special teams coordinators have to spend the time to prepare for Hill.

Maybe, just maybe, we’ll get a chance to see Mathieu taking a punt return this season. He even thinks he can match his college average of around 15 yards per punt.

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WATCH: Chiefs’ Mecole Hardman turns on jets for 67-yard punt return touchdown

Just like that the Kansas City Chiefs extend their lead to 18 points with a punt return touchdown.

The game has quickly gotten out of hand for the Miami Dolphins and turned in favor of the Kansas City Chiefs.

After forcing a quick three-and-out in the Dolphins’ first offensive possession of the third quarter, the Chiefs got on the board with a special teams touchdown. Mecole Hardman has been relatively quiet on special teams this season, but he made a splash with a 67-yard punt return touchdown.

Hardman got key blocks from LB Darius Harris and DB Chris Lammons on the play. Harris is playing in his first career NFL game and Lammons was a standard elevation from the practice squad for the second time this season. Those two blocks helped spring Hardman, who streaked up the sideline and into the endzone for the score.

This is Hardman’s first career punt return touchdown and it’s the first punt return touchdown that the team has recorded since 2018. This is the second special teams touchdown on the season, with Byron Pringle recording a kick return touchdown against the Denver Broncos in Week 7.

All three phases are getting involved for the Chiefs in this one, which is something that you like to see after the team faced some adversity in the first quarter.

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WATCH: DeVonta Smith returns punt 84 yards to the house

DeVonta Smith keeps increasing his draft value, and is making a strong case for the 2020 Heisman trophy. He is the first to reach the end…

Alabama started off slow, tied with Arkansas at three with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

All that changed when star wide receiver DeVonta Smith returned a punt 84 yards to the house for the first touchdown of the contest.

This game is still an interesting one to watch, and a four-point lead is not preferable for the No. 1 team in the nation.

The Arkansas defense is looking tough against the Crimson Tide run game, and is limiting the deep passes by Mac Jones.

While the special teams touchdown is helpful, Alabama will need to get more consistent on offense and defense if they want to win this game by a sizeable margin.