Hightower on losing DeAndre Carter for the season, Taylor's improvement |
CHICAGO—Chicago’s game against the San Francisco 49ers was rough for the offense and defense, but at least the Bears’ special teams unit performed well.
However, they suffered a critical loss when kick and punt returner DeAndre Carter got injured and was put on injured reserve (IR), ending his season. “He is a phenomenal person and a phenomenal player and I’m not going to understate the value of him. He (will) be sorely missed just because of his character and the production that he provided for us. I think (he) was second in the NFL in kickoff return average (and) doing well in punt return,” special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said. “But, wants us to carry forward, and he wants us to have the next man up mentality, which is what we have, and he’s been in the meetings talking to all the guys about having that opportunity and going out there and taking advantage of every opportunity, and he hasn’t changed one bit. He’s in the meeting just like he’s playing and he’s helping everybody else.” Carter was averaging 31.9 yards per kick return before his injury, with a long of 67 yards on a kick return. In punt returns, he averaged 9.7 yards per return with a long of 38 yards. Cornerback Josh Blackwell finished the game as the kick and punt returner. However, it is not guaranteed that he will be the returner for the rest of the season, as players such as cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and receivers Rome Odunze and DJ Moore are still in contention. “We finished the game back there with Josh (Blackwell). I thought he did a really nice job on the one return he had, the 14-yard return. He did a good job on that one,” Hightower said. “We talked to him about not giving (him) as much grace on the one he caught at the six or five-yard line. Probably could have let that one bounce.” It makes the most sense to leave Blackwell as a returner for the remainder of the season. Odunze and Moore are Chicago’s top receivers; they could not afford for either of them to get injured, and performing the returner duties would provide more opportunities for them to get injured. Stevenson could step in, but Blackwell has more experience, and Stevenson still rotates a good deal. It would be surprising if Blackwell did not remain the returner for these final four games, starting with the Minnesota Vikings this coming Monday (7 p.m. / ABC). Punter Tory Taylor had a busy day the last time Chicago faced the Vikings. In their last matchup a few weeks ago, Taylor had six punts for an average of 48.7 yards. His longest punt in that game was 54 yards. It was his seventh game with at least five punts this season. Another such occurrence was last week against San Francisco when he had six punts for an average of 52.7 yards per punt with a long of 60 yards. Taylor has continued to improve as the season has progressed, a promising sign for the future. “I feel like the way he punted last week in San Francisco was better than the Washington game, which in turn obviously be better than the L.A. Ram game (where he won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week). He’s growing. He’s doing a phenomenal job and he’s not satisfied. He’s hungry and wants to do more,” Hightower said. “He had a backed-up punt. He had a punt from around the plus 50 area … He had two or three punt-and-pins. He had a couple 60-yard balls. He had (basically) 50 yard net. Anytime you got 50-yard net, that’s top-five in the National Football League … He’s been playing well the last three weeks, but we need to keep him going that way.”
