Titans Coach Craig Aukerman on Kyle Philips the Punt Returner: 'He's going to be back there to return punts'

The Tennessee Titans are likely to see second-year receiver Kyle Philips return from injured reserve for Week 5's game against the Indianapolis Colts and despite the public's hesitation, the Titans seem ready to put him back at punt returner again.

The Tennessee Titans have a tough call to make at punt returner this week. The spot was originally filled by second-year receiver Kyle Philips, but Philips was injured on a punt return during the preseason and went on injured reserve.

In his place, the Titans went to rookie receiver Kearis Jackson as their punt returner. Jackson had a good showing to start the year including a return in overtime of Week 2's win over the Los Angeles Chargers that set up the winning kick.

Jackson was also placed on injured reserve after that game though and it forced the Titans to call up third-year receiver Mason Kinsey from the practice squad. Kinsey has a few good returns in two weeks including a key 21-yarder in Week 4.

Philips returned to practice from injured reserve this week and Kinsey was placed back on the practice squad. The easy answer as to who will punt return this week is Philips. He was the intended starter anyways.

Philips' health makes that not such a simple decisions though. The Titans need help at wide receiver and Philips has a unique skillset there. Putting Philips out to punt return, where he got hurt in the preseason, could jeopardize his ability to help the offense.

Philips missed 13 games in 2022 with injuries and now has missed another four in 2023. The Titans need to strike a balance between the need on punt return and the need at receiver. The truth is though, they need Philips to do both.

Philips is a fifth-round pick at the end of the day. In the Titans' run-first offense that requires a certain level of blocking prowess from the receivers, Philips is truly a one-down player who can only contribute in passing situations. His ability as a returner gives him enough value to be on the team.

Before Philips can do anything though, he has to prove he is healthy enough to be activated officially back to the 53-man roster. Special teams coach Craigh Aukerman discussed that on Thursday before practice.

"I think (Thursday) will be a big day for him also," Aukerman said. "(Friday) we'll get him out there and work him out, catching punts more and more and seeing how he feels and then make a decision based on that." 

"We'll go in there and look at him, see how he's going to move lateral. How he has to go back maybe to catch a bigger punt, but then just going up there and getting upfield, trying to make some guys miss. We're going to try to do everything to simulate what he would get into a game in order for him to feel comfortable playing this week, if he does."  

Aukerman also talked about the balancing act of weighing Philip's impact on punt return compared to wide receiver.

"We want to keep him on the field as much as we possibly can cause he's a weapon on offense too," Aukerman admitted. "We're going to do everything that we can, if he's back there catching punts for us, to protect him and that start with the guys on the outside and the interior guys. It's big that we always have that in the back of our mind, but Kyle's out there for a reason and if we feel comfortable with him back there returning punts, we're going to do that." 

"He's going to be back there if he's up, he's going to be back there to return punts."

Whether the masses think it is the right decisions or not, it appears Philips is primed to go back to returning punts and hopefully it doesn't end like it did in the preseason or in 2022.

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