The special teams coach of the Baltimore Ravens is being daring, bold and unafraid, declaring Thursday the Ravens won’t kick away from Atlanta Falcons return ace Devin Hester.
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The Baltimore Ravens don’t plan on trying to avoid kicking the ball to record-setting return specialist Devin Hester on Sunday when they face the Atlanta Falcons.
Special teams coach Jerry Rosburg told The Baltimore Sun that the Ravens have played other teams with good punt returners and didn’t shy away from them, either.
"“We have faced a lot of good returners this year already,” Rosburg, who is also the team’s assistant head coach, said. “When we play Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, we face very good punt returners of that caliber and of that type. We have a lot of confidence in our punt game.“We have good gunners, we have a good punter and we have good inside core guys, so we are going to do all we can to try to contain him with what we do.”"
Hester, in his first season with the Falcons after eight years in Chicago, is third in the NFL with a 12.5-yard-per-return average on punts.
He set a new NFL career record earlier this year when he returned a punt 62 yards for a score against Tampa Bay, his 20th career return touchdown. He had shared the old mark with Deion Sanders.
Baltimore’s opponents have returned eight punts this year for an average of nine yards a return, which ranks 21st in the NFL. But 45 yards of that came on one return by Adam Jones of Cincinnati in the season opener.
Punter Sam Koch is third in the league with a 48.9-yard-per-punt average and is sixth with a 42.3 yard net average.
Baltimore hasn’t given up a punt return touchdown since Josh Cribbs of the Browns returned one 84 yards for a score on Dec. 24, 2011.
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