The Struggle of Patriots Coaches Evaluating Kick/Punt Returners Without a Preseason

Without any preseason games it's been nearly impossible to fully evaluate the kick and punt returner candidates in New England.

Two of the starting jobs that seem to still be up for grabs come the regular season for the New England Patriots are the punt and kick return duties. 

Last season, wideout Gunner Olszewski was the main punt returner for New England until he landed on injured reserve in November. Running back Brandon Bolden was the primary kicker returner for the Patriots last season, but won't be doing the same this year since he chose to opt out of the 2020 season due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Because Olszewski isn't quite a lock to make New England's 53-man roster this year and Bolden is sitting out this season, there has been an open competition at the kick and punt returner positions this summer. The problem is, it's been very difficult to evaluate those spots due to a lack of preseason games. 

"The return position in particular is a little bit like the running back position," Belichick said Wednesday during a video conference with the media. "It's really hard to tell how those guys do with the ball in their hands based on the limited amount of live tackling that we've done as a team.

"We've done individual tackling and fundamental tackling, but we've limited the live tackling reps, and that's really where those guys excel, right, is in the open field with the ball in their hands, can they make the first guy miss, can they gain extra yards in the open field with their return skills, how do they handle the ball, the decision making with guys on them, or fair catching, so forth, setting up blocks, showing their strength and quickness or run instincts in a live setting as opposed to a team setting where generally we're tagging off. It makes that a little bit of a tougher evaluation." 

Belichick also called it a "leap of faith" to go from a practice setting to a game setting at that position. 

Players like Olszewski, Kyle Dugger, Mohamed Sanu, Damiere Byrd, Jeff Thomas and J.J. Taylor could fill the punt and/or kick return duties for New England. My guess is that Olszewski or Dugger will be the team's primary punt returner. However, at this point it seems like a toss up as to who will be the primary kick returner, which is something running backs/kick returners coach Troy Brown echoed on Tuesday when he told the media that the kick returner job is "wide open."

Because of this, the month of September could be an experimental period for the punt and kick return units in New England. The idea of rotating players at the punt and kick returner spots is very viable, with the hot hand taking the majority of the reps and then eventually winning the job. 

This is one of the many challenges NFL teams are facing this season. And for the Patriots, it's another hurdle they must overcome when trying to evaluate their roster ahead of this weekend's cutdown to 53 players. 

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