Devin denied: Giants great at containing Hester

Devin denied: Giants great at containing Hester

Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010
5:35 PM

By John Mullin
CSNChicago.com

Few teams have defended against the kick returns of Devin Hester better than the New York Giants.

The Bears played the Giants in 2006 and again in 2007, Hester’s signature seasons as a returner. He did return a missed field goal 108 yards for a touchdown in the teams’ 2006 game but he returned two punts for net-zero yards and did not return any kickoffs.

In the Bears’ 2007 loss Hester returned three punts for net-16 yards (5.3 avg.) and one kickoff for 19 yards. Still, the Giants have no plans to punt to Hester and risk what happened to the Green Bay Packers, with a 62-yard return for a TD and runbacks of 28 and 29 yards, the latter nullified by a penalty.

Coach Tom Coughlin was incredulous when asked whether Hester was in fact someone requiring special attention. “Is he a concern?” Coughlin said. “Certainly he’s a concern. Anytime you have a guy who puts the ball in the end zone or sets up a touchdown, you’ve got a real weapon and it’s just like being on the defensive side of the ball; you have to negate that weapon.

“You’ve got to rely on some people to get out and cover, and protection comes first. If there’s one flaw in the coverage and it’s found by the return man, the rest is history.”

Surprise, surprise

Quarterback Jay Cutler admitted that, for as close as he and Mike Martz have become, his offensive coordinator has surprised him on more than one occasion with in-game calls sent in over the receiver in Cutler’s helmet.

“He’s not the first guy that’s said that,” Martz said, laughing. But the surprises are not bizarre concoctions from out of no where. Martz doesn’t want his quarterback to be blindsided either by defensive linemen or coaches’ calls.

“Very seldom will we do anything that isn’t in the game plan or that I’ve talked to him about,” Martz said. “We did one thing in the Cowboy game that was a little different but we talked about it, an adjustment in the game. But we’re pretty aggressive and I think he enjoys the challenge of it. That’s the mindset we want, to attack people and keep going after them.”

Superstitions, anyone?

Bears wide receiver Rashied Davis, who had hair on the right side of his head done in a Bears logo (complete with team colors) Monday night, has gone Latin now, keeping the look but in the style of “Aztec Warrior.”

Linebacker Lance Briggs stays with more conventional “looks” which don’t change.

“I go to KFC,” Briggs said. “They’ve got that new sandwich, that crispy sandwich. [And] I definitely like Whoppers. I order big Whoppers with everything on it, everything. I just do the same things I’ve always done. Nothing changes.