ChicagoBreakingSports
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When the Bears spent some time fielding punts in practice during Wednesday's OTA, Johnny Knox took turns with Devin Hester.
That has been one of the plans of special teams coordinator Dave Toub this offseason, to get Knox into the mix in the return game. Toub is not looking to replace Hester as much as he wants to have another dynamic player ready if a need arises. Knox remains a work in progress but if he can be brought along it will give the Bears another capable return man and when you think about it, the rich will get richer.
The plan heading into the season is to have Hester handle punt returns and offensive coordinator Mike Martz has talked about being aware of Hester's role on special teams and the significance of it. Knox and Danieal Manning are projected to split duties on kickoff returns. Earl Bennett, who scored on a 49-yard return at Baltimore last December, is also a viable option for punt returns.
Photo: Johnny Knox catches a pass during practice last month. (Chris Walker/Tribune)
It used to be that Hester looked to other teams to see what the top returners in the league were doing. He challenged himself to match them. Now, he doesn't have to look far to find a challenge.
"It's a competition because at the end of the day we are all competing out here," Hester said. "What it is going to do is it is going to make all of us better. When you have four or five guys that really have the ability to be a star, that's when you're in the meeting room and you feel like you have to step your game up. You need people who can step up and play and if we have an injury, we have that guy."
Hester handled the majority of punt returns last season, making 24 of the team's 39 returns. Nine of Bennett's came in the three games Hester missed with a leg injury. Hester averaged 7.8 yards per return and the belief was he was close to breaking a handful. All he needed was one block for one long return and that would have shifted his average to close to 10 yards. Had that happened, no one would have complained about the return game, not when Knox and Manning provided the Bears with the best 1-2 kickoff return combination in the NFL.
When Knox was called for the Pro Bowl to replace Minnesota's Percy Harvin, Toub said Manning was just as deserving. It wasn't a knock on Knox, but an affirmation of how strong the Bears were in the return game.
"That's the way it is on this team," Hester said. "A lot of fans and a lot of teams don't really know how deep we are."
The key for Knox to develop as a punt returner is catching the ball. It's much more difficult than kickoffs. For starters, the coverage team is on top of punt returners much more quickly. Even more challenging is fielding the ball off the foot of a punter.
"Plus, the hardest thing about catching punts in Chicago, period, is just the wind factor," Hester said. "You go to other stadiums and it won't be as bad. Here it's real strong and sometimes it's hard to simulate."
It's also difficult for anyone to simulate the return game the Bears enjoy.
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