Hightower on DeAndre Carter: "I thought he did a phenomenal job" |
CHICAGO - Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower coached his unit well. Chicago’s special teams unit flipped the game against the Tennessee Titans, giving the Bears the momentum to come back from 17 behind and beat the Titans 24-17 in the season opener.
However, there was one dark spot in the special teams play this past Sunday - a costly fumble by Velus Jones Jr. on a kickoff return. “As a human, I hurt for the kid. I really do,” Hightower said. “But as a coach, we have to evaluate all our options, and he knows in the return game, the number one thing is to take care of the football.” After the Jones Jr. fumble, DeAndre Carter, who was already serving as the punt returner, finished the game as the kickoff returner as well. In his lone kickoff return, he took it 67 yards to give the Bears excellent field position. Hightower declined to say if Carter will remain the kick and punt returner, but that certainly remains possible throughout the season. This is especially true because of how well Carter did in both roles. Hightower also has a personal history with Carter and thus knows his abilities as a player. “DeAndre, I thought he did a phenomenal job in the football game. He was aggressive. He attacked the football. DeAndre is exactly the type of human being that just works his tail off … DeAndre and I have a history because he was with me when we were on the West Coast when I was at the Niners,” Hightower said. “He was with me for a while, and I really wish we could have done it together sooner, and that’s exactly what he said when he signed here. He’s like, ‘Now we really get a chance to do it (in) a real-life setting.’ So, I’m just happy and proud for him, an extreme boost. The blockers did a great job for him. He did a great job getting the ball in plus territory, flipping the field for us a couple different times and he’s an unselfish player and he just wanted all the credit to go to the people that were blocking for him. Selfless human being.” Linebacker Daniel Hardy also made his impact on special teams known. He is the one who had the blocked punt, which would be returned by safety Jonathan Owens, to flip momentum in the season opener. The effort it took on that play is something that has struck Hightower, particularly after meeting his family. “It’s a testament to not only him as a person and I actually met his mom this week for the first time. It’s a testament to his family, how he was raised, how he goes about his business, and it’s a testament to our personnel department finding a guy like that because a lot of people didn’t know who Daniel Hardy was and for him to work and develop and make the plays that he made, I’m very proud of him as well as his teammates,” Hightower said. “What’s interesting that people don’t know is that after the game he had and after he was recognized by coaches, one of the players of the game who contributed and all that, the kid after that, he came right up to my office and wanted to know what he could get better at in the areas of what he didn’t do good in the game. So, that’ll give you a peek into what type of character person he (is). He was more concerned about what he messed up in the game than what he did well.” Now, Hightower has a new special teams unit to prepare for in the Houston Texans this coming Sunday (7:20 p.m. / NBC). This will be the first primetime game of the season for both teams, and Houston’s special teams coordinator has a lengthy history and knowledge of managing special teams. So, Hightower knows he is preparing for a phenomenal staff and unit in preparing for the Texans. “They haven’t had a Sunday Night Football game in five years, so I know that environment is going to be absolutely electric as well and we’re going against a really well-coached football team in all three phases. So, definitely looking forward to the challenge,” Hightower said. “When you talk about Houston’s special teams, they’re really well-coached and they have been for awhile, since (special teams coordinator) Coach (Frank) Ross has been there. Phenomenal unit, phenomenal personnel. I think that was a one-off, honestly. They’re really good when you go back and study all the coordinator’s history from him being in Houston and then (in) three years, he was an assistant in (Indianapolis), and then even his background goes back to being a scout when he was in New England. So, I think he does a phenomenal (job) with his football team and his units, and I think the units are coached really well, and I think the units play really hard. I think it’s going to be a real tough challenge for us.”
