The Cleveland Browns will host the Cincinnati Bengals in the season opener on Sunday afternoon. One position that is still a mystery despite the elongated preseason is who exactly will be responsible for returning kicks and punts.
Return specialist Jakeem Grant was brought back slowly over training camp with the plan that he could be the guy. Those hopes were quickly extinguished on the opening kickoff of the preseason finale against the Chiefs.
Grant ruptured his patellar tendon and would be carted off the field. This was devastating for Grant and his teammates, after all the work he put in to come back from the ruptured Achilles he suffered a year earlier.
For the Browns, the easy answer is to just run back what you had last year. Second year running back Jerome Ford excelled in the kick returner role and Donovan People’s-Jones flashed returning punts. Both had several returns for large gains and Peoples-Jones even had a punt return for a touchdown.
The question remains if you want to subject two key players in your offense to additional injury risks that often happen in the return game. Ford who has been out most of the preseason with a hamstring injury has returned to practice and ready to play week- one. Hamstring injuries have a significant chance of re-injury and the team may want to be cautious.
He is also expected to be the team’s primary backup to Nick Chubb. Perhaps the most logical answer is the player that the Browns traded for less than 24-hours after the game in Kansas City.
Running back Pierre Strong was acquired from the Patriots in exchange for offensive tackle Tyrone Wheatley Jr. Strong does have experience returning kicks. In New England last year, he returned 5 kickoffs for 115 yards, for an average of 23 yards a return.
Fielding punts is a different skill set and one that requires awareness and sure hands. It’s most likely that Peoples-Jones is given the chore but one other option would be to bring up wide receiver Jaelon Darden from the practice squad.
Darden has returned 52 punts in his career for an average of 9.36 yards. I am hopeful that the local media will press for answers to the question this week. You would think it will be asked of Kevin Stefanski when he speaks Wednesday and definitely when special teams coach Bubba Ventrone speaks on Thursday.
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