Hightower on Tory Taylor, Velus Jones Jr. doing a "great job" in practice |
LONDON, U.K. - Special teams is a little more exciting for the Bears this year than it has in years past. While seeing the punter on the field is typically not the best thing, it has become more entertaining with rookie punter Tory Taylor as he can make some booming kicks, unlike most punters in the league.
He may not have had a 50-yard punt last week, but he did have another phenomenal performance. “I think overall (the) last two weeks, outstanding. In that Carolina game, (his) first and last punt were two phenomenal punts, two really good punts. The first one was into the wind and then obviously, his other two punts were into the wind as well. That was a tough wind,” special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said. “The only one he got that was with the wind was the last one at the end of the game where he pinned it inside the eight yard line, set our defense up. So, I would say, obviously, not the game that he had against the Rams, but still a decent game for him and I’m excited and our specialists are excited because I’ve been told that people really love specialists here and can appreciate their skill set. So, we’re extremely excited to go out and perform in this environment.” Hightower was one of the coaches who influenced the league’s decision to implement the dynamic kickoff. However, it has not panned out how Hightower and other special teams coordinators had hoped for as most teams are still kicking touchbacks. This is something that could change in the offseason and the idea has already been floated to move the ball to the 30-yard line as opposed to the 25-yard line for a touchback as this might serve as a better incentive for teams to have more returns. Overall, Hightower sees the dynamic kickoff, as well as the international games, as prime examples of how the league is constantly working to get better. “It is an improvement. But, I think we would still like to see more returns across the league and I know for a fact that we’re going to take a look at it again just because it’s a one-year trial. So, we have to revisit it at the end of the year, get input from obviously all the other coordinators and then sit down with the competition committee, health and safety and the rest of the NFL office and see how we can continue to improve our game,” Hightower said. “I think the NFL’s done a hell of a job improving our game, not only on the kickoff but just even us being here internationally. A lot of our kids have never been overseas. Hell, I (have) never been overseas. It’s my first time here. So, I think it’ll only get better.” Throughout the preseason, there was a battle for the kick returner and punt returner positions. DeAndre Carter has clearly won both of those jobs, although the season initially started out with Velus Jones Jr. receiving kickoffs. That changed rather quickly after Jones Jr. had a fumble against the Tennessee Titans; he has not played since. Despite that, Hightower maintains that Jones Jr. has continued to work off the field and be dialed in. “Great kid, works his tail off. Been impressed with him off the field, in the meeting room. He’s locked in. He’s dialed in. He’s been doing a really nice job in practice. He’s been doing a great job,” Hightower said. “So, what I’ve seen from him is him digging down deep inside and then we’re just going to continue to try to develop him and that’s not only me. That’s (running backs coach) Coach Morton. (head coach) Coach Flus is involved in that. We’re all involved and we all got our arms around him. He’s our and we’re going to keep working with him as long as we can to help him be the best player he can be (because) that’s our jobs. We want to make sure that we can help him be his best. But, he’s been doing a great job behind the scenes.”
