Why doesn't Dez ever return punts anymore?

RoboQB

RoboQB

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Google Jason Sehorn.

Dude wanted to return a punt in a preseason game.
The Giants coach allowed it.
One shredded knee later... career over.
 
skinsscalper

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Deep_Freeze said:
Well, there is another truth in here, after his rookie season, Dez really wasn't that good at returning punts anymore, so its diminishing returns.

He was 14.3 as a rookie, then 6.9, then 5.5. That's not good enough to risk injury, don't know why he got worse at it, but he did. By 2012, he didn't even look comfortable returning punts.
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Finally someone with a decent memory. The reason Dez doesn't return punts is because he sucks at it. I can't believe on a board with so many Cowboys fans it took 29 posts for someone to remember that he sucks at returning punts.
 
RoboQB

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skinsscalper said:
Finally someone with a decent memory. The reason Dez doesn't return punts is because he sucks at it. I can't believe on a board with so many Cowboys fans it took 29 posts for someone to remember that he sucks at returning punts.
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I'm sure people remember. It's just crazy to think some fans would want him out there, good or bad.

I remember Dez returns looking like a school yard-style mess mostly with a few that worked well.
But most were awful and he never tucked the ball in. I always hated that. I'm guessing he ran into
blocks many times. "Dez, we got return right called." In one ear and out the other... lol
 
robbieruff

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da_boyz_mk said:
If someone doesn't understand why Dez doesn't return punts...they haven't been paying attention. Otherwise this question would never be asked.
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Brah. Did u even read the OP. Or the conversatiok throughout the thread?!! I am talking about EVER SINCE HIS ROOKIE YEAR. Dez was a top returner as a rookie. OF COURSE he doesn't return NOW with all the injury history in the past two years. I am talking about through the course of his career it just STOPPED...even before injuries were really an issue. That has nothing to do with paying attention or not. I pay VERY CLOSE attention to the Boys and have been to more live games than I care to count. Don't put the flippancy in this thread please. This is a reasonable question about our coaching philosophy vs how we've done it in the past and how current teams approach the return game currently.
 
casmith07

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I would put Dez back there if we had opponents pinned deep, anticipating a short punt. Try to scare the punter a bit into a shanked punt.
 
robbieruff

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LatinMind said:
Because he has already gotten injured three times and twice in one season returning punts.
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He got hurt as a punt returner? I know of course about the injuries sustained as a pass catcher but I must say I don't recall when it happened in the return game. Can you refresh my memory of when that happened?
 
casmith07

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robbieruff said:
He got hurt as a punt returner? I know of course about the injuries sustained as a pass catcher but I must say I don't recall when it happened in the return game. Can you refresh my memory of when that happened?
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He didn't.
 
robbieruff

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Deep_Freeze said:
Well, there is another truth in here, after his rookie season, Dez really wasn't that good at returning punts anymore, so its diminishing returns.

He was 14.3 as a rookie, then 6.9, then 5.5. That's not good enough to risk injury, don't know why he got worse at it, but he did. By 2012, he didn't even look comfortable returning punts.
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Hats interesting perspective. Was it a Dez problem mainly or were teams avoiding kicking it to him? I am going to go back and look more closely at the stats. That will likely shed a little more light on the story.
 
robbieruff

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Toruk_Makto said:
Why don't we use Zeke for kick returns?
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C'mon man. This is an honest question. Zeke was not a returner in college as I'm sure your know (sarcasm aside). On the other hand, Felix Jones was and was thus used in that capacity frequently even though, at the time, he was serving as our starting RB. So in your mind do offensive or defensive marquee starters never get used in the return game? Are those days over?
 
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Deep_Freeze

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robbieruff said:
Hats interesting perspective. Was it a Dez problem mainly or were teams avoiding kicking it to him? I am going to go back and look more closely at the stats. That will likely shed a little more light on the story.
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Stats really don't tell the story. He looked like he was trying to be Deion or something (which he isn't), running east/west instead of being aggressive and running it up the middle north/south.

The mentality of a punt returner is like being Evil Knievel, don't know, but I think he lost some of that mentality.
 
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