Coach Zorn Discusses Antwaan Randle El Some More
Posted by Matt Terl on December 16, 2009 – 3:43 pm
Antwaan Randle El‘s punt returns this year have been disappointing, to say this least. Heading into the Oakland game, he had thirteen returns for 58 yards — a 4.5 average — with two fumbles and seventeen fair catches, numbers that left people fairly disappointed.
In Sunday’s game, things got even worse. The Raiders punted the ball six times. Two of those were for touchbacks. One more was downed after Randle El misjudged its landing spot and let it roll eighteen yards into Redskins territory. Randle El fair-caught another one. Of the remaining two punts, Randle El received both of them, for 0 yards and one fumble. This left people even more disappointed, and left Randle El’s statistics even more ravaged.
On his radio show this week, head coach Jim Zorn promised “some adjustments,” and during his chat with the media today he went into that issue in a little more depth.
“As we look around,” Zorn said, “what we’re wanting is ball security, more than even return yardage from Antwaan right now. We’ll get that yardage.”
According to Zorn, Devin Thomas “caught a bunch today” in practice. “We’ll go with Devin,” Zorn continued. “We’ll keep going with Santana [Moss], I’d love to see DeAngelo [Hall] really get more than he’s gotten as well.” (Although Zorn noted that even if Hall returns to action this Monday night, he’s unlikely to return punts his first week back.)
Thomas, though, is someone that Zorn says he’d consider as a regular primary punt returner, “as he continues to improve and as we continue to gain confidence in what he’s all about.”
Punt returning, Zorn noted, is “criticial when it’s not going well, the way it’s been going. You know, we lost eighteen yards on that ball hittin’ the ground the other day. We fumbled a punt and we lost the ball, so those are huge and critical. So that’s enough said there. But to have a spark, to actually have return yardage … the idea is to, first of all, get one first down. When you catch that ball, go get ten yards. And now you’re creating offense for yourself. You’re creating more of an opportunity for you to score. The odds are that you’re score easier. So it’s a critical part of the game that we must continue to improve.”
So that’s good.
Injury update: Albert Haynesworth participated in the morning practice, did sidework in the afternoon. I saw him running ladders and was suprised again at how nimble he is for such a big guy. Hall did sidework at both practices, “working his way in, feeling more and more stable,” per Zorn. And Mike Sellers worked drills. All three are “still up in the air” for Monday night.
Kareem Moore also was limited in practice with an ankle sprain.
Tags: antwaan randle el, AntwaanRandleEl, Jim Zorn, JimZorn
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