Muffed Punts Test Faith in Philips

In the first two games of his NFL career, the fifth-round pick has shown promise as a punt returner, but mistakes could cost him that job.

NASHVILLE – Craig Aukerman is confident that Kyle Philips wants to remain the Tennessee Titans’ punt returner. That much was clear immediately after the rookie wide receiver muffed a punt Monday at Buffalo, his second such miscue in as many games.

“I think Kyle wants to be out there,” Aukerman, the Titans special teams coach said Thursday. “Even after he dropped that (second) one, he was like, ‘Put me back out there. I want to be the guy.’”

What Aukerman, head coach Mike Vrabel and others have to decide is whether they still have enough confidence in the fifth-round pick out of UCLA to give him another try. After all, Philips has had seven punts come his way in the first two games of his NFL career, and he has mishandled the last two.

With that in mind, the staff has evaluated options at punt return this week. That process began in earnest with Thursday’s workout. Players performed a walkthrough rather than a full practice on Wednesday to help with recovery following Monday’s 41-7 loss to the Bills.

“It’s going to be confidence with (Philips) going back there,” Aukerman said. “We’ll continue to work with him. He does a great job in practice. It’s just him going into the game now (and) having that confidence of going and catching the ball whether there’s guys around him or not, whether he has to signal for a fair catch or get a return.

“We’ll continue to work with Kyle. Hopefully, he continues to have confidence going back there.”

Philips did not get his wish Monday. After the muff against the Bills, coaches turned to safety Amani Hooker, who muffed his one and only opportunity. After that, it was wide receiver Robert Woods who was sent back there. Woods executed a fair catch without incident.

Those were Buffalo’s only punts of the night.

“We don’t want to go back there and fair catch the ball every time,” Aukerman said. “That’s not what we’re looking for. If (opposing players) are 20-30 yards downfield and we’re calling for a fair catch, we’re obviously not helping our offense at all of gaining field position. We want our guys to go back there and make smart decisions.”

Most of all, though, they want someone to catch the ball.

Philips had no such problem in the preseason when he averaged 18.6 yards on five returns along with two fair catches. In Week 1 against the New York Giants, he went 46 yards with his first return, which is the longest in the NFL so far this season. He executed four others (two returns for 16 yards, two fair catches) before the troubles began.

At this point, no one can say for sure what will happen when – or if – the Las Vegas Raiders punt on Sunday. Or who will be the one who tries to catch it.

“We’re still in the process of going through who’s going to be back there,” Aukerman said. … “We have to get back to the fundamentals – I have to do a better job coaching it – … of getting squared up to the ball, having our elbows in and watching it through.

“… Obviously, (Philips) guy has a bunch of playmaking ability that (he showed) in the preseason and during that opening punt return [against the Giants]. So, we’ll continue to work through whatever it ends up Kyle can take.”