Dave Toub Discusses Current State of KC Chiefs’ Punt Return Game

According to Toub, Kansas City appears to be in a good place when it comes to options in the return game.

When the Kansas City Chiefs made the move to bring wide receiver Mecole Hardman back via trade, there was an expectation that the fifth-year man could potentially factor into the return game. Last Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, that's exactly what happened.

With Steve Spagnuolo's defense forcing Chargers punter JK Scott to take the field five times in Week 7, Kansas City got plenty of looks at the punting aspect of the game. Four of those punts went inside the 20, with one of them being a 65-yard boot. Hardman was the go-to option for all punts, with some being better than others. With a fair catch at the 17-yard line and a punt being downed at the 4-yard line in the first half, things didn't get off to a blazing start. According to special teams coordinator Dave Toub on Thursday, though, he never considered going away from Hardman in his first game back. 

“No, no," Toub said. "I just talked to him on the sideline about it. Particularly the third to last one where we had the defense stay out there and he (Scott) bombed one, he (Hardman) should have stayed on the 20 instead of going back and getting it, we talked about that one. The funny thing was the long (return) that he got was the same exact punt, he went and got that one and obviously it paid off.”

After a relatively quiet — or perhaps negatively impactful — start to the night from Hardman, the Chiefs' defense forced Los Angeles into a fourth-and-5 relatively late into the fourth quarter. Scott once again delivered with a nice 58-yard bomb, but Hardman fielded this one at the 15 and ended up bringing it back 50 yards all the way to the Chargers' 35-yard line. It was one of Kansas City's biggest plays of the outing, and one that hadn't been much of an element of the return game previously this season. If you ask Toub, he'll simply say there was a little bit of rust to knock off. 

"Yeah, that’s what I’m chalking it up to," Toub said. "It’s good to have him back. He’s got a lot of juice out there, obviously a little more speed than we’ve had. And he has a lot of experience back there, but he hadn’t been doing it. He’s probably done it in practice with the Jets – he told me he did, we haven’t seen it. He got better as the game went on, got used to it a little bit more, seeing how we’re blocking people up. Obviously, it was a big return for us at a big time."

Chiefs Glad to Have Mecole Hardman Back on Their Side for Week 7 Win

When asked about other potential options in the punt return realm, Toub singled out two other wide receivers: Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore. Toney, who has battled some injuries in recent months but still managed to play in every game this season, returned 10 punts for the Chiefs last year in the regular season before recording 112 more return yards in the postseason. Moore struggled immensely out of the gate but improved in time to have a clutch moment in the AFC Championship Game with a 29-yard return. Toney is the first man up in the event of Hardman being unable to return punts, although head coach Andy Reid prefers to keep him on offense. 

"Yeah, Toney, he's a guy that practices and does it," Toub said. "Why not? I just think that Andy wants to keep him on the offensive side. He's a specialty guy for him. He's our next guy that goes, obviously, and Skyy Moore's in the mix, too." 

With Hardman back in the fold and the team having moved past Montrell Washington after a job well done, the Chiefs feel confident in the group they have. Hardman provides a level of familiarity and speed that the current unit simply didn't have in the stable, which will serve as an advantage down the stretch of the season. With a couple of replacements capable of shining when needed, Toub is satisfied with his rotation. Even for a Kansas City special teams unit that has been one of the league's best through seven games, finding a way to enhance the level of play somehow might have been attained. 

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