KIRKLAND — A franchise that once had flashy return men like Bobby Joe Edmonds, Joey Galloway and Charlie Rogers is getting less glamorous results lately.
And that’s just fine with the Seattle Seahawks.
Punt returner Bobby Engram and kickoff return man Maurice Morris have unspectacular numbers for the Seahawks, who have boasted one of the best special teams units in the NFL in recent years. Seattle ranks 19th in the NFL in punt return average and 30th in kickoff return average, yet special teams coach Pete Rodriguez said there is no reason for concern.
"It’s nice to make big plays," Rodriguez said, "like a return or a blocked kick. Those are nice plays, but over the course of the season the No. 1 thing is field position. That’s what helps you win football games."
Rather than trade off an occasional touchdown for a handful of muffed punts, the Seahawks prefer the consistency that Engram and Morris provide. Rodriguez claims that a play last Sunday in which Morris botched the opening kickoff was the first turnover by a Seahawks return man in nearly two years.
That compensates for the fact that the Seahawks have gone more than a year without a kick return touchdown (Engram’s 61-yard punt return on Oct. 12, 2002). Since the beginning of the 2003 season, a total of 13 kick returns have gone for touchdowns, none of which have been returned by a Seahawk.
"We go in and try to not turn the ball over and not get penalties," Rodriguez said. "If you start with that, you’ll end up with a lot of good field position. Right now our kickoff returns aren’t averaging a lot of yards, but our field position has been really good."
Morris has averaged just 19.8 yards per kickoff return, which ranks 17th in the NFC, but the Seahawks’ average start has been near the 30-yard line.
"The main thing is to put the offense in great position," Morris said. "That’s my main role."
Both Rodriguez and Morris have seen signs that the return game is showing improvement, as evidenced by a season-long, 35-yard return at Washington on Sunday.
"We kind of put a group together now that’s going to be together all the time," Morris said. "It’s fit the system with the personnel, so everybody’s going to know what they’re supposed to do."
Engram has a relatively modest average of 9.3 yards per punt return and has called 10 fair catches on 28 opportunities. His longest punt return was 27 yards, which came on the final play before halftime of a 38-0 blowout win over Arizona. Other than that, Engram has had only two returns go longer than 20 yards.
Like Morris, Engram isn’t expected to score many touchdowns on returns.
"If he breaks a big one, then that’s gravy," coach Mike Holmgren said. "His worth is that he’s one of the best punt catchers I’ve ever seen. So we don’t have turnovers in the punt game. That’s a positive thing.
"If he can catch the ball and gain 10 yards after the catch, then I think he’s doing a great job. If he gets more than that, then I think he’s gone beyond the call of duty."
Engram is a very different return man from Rogers, his predecessor. While Rogers gave the return game a breakaway threat, Engram provides a consistency that helps his coaches sleep at night.
"Punt return is really about field position, so if I can catch the ball and get positive yards then that’s my role," Engram said. "If I can come up and catch the ball and keep it from bouncing 20 yards, then I feel that’s just 20 yards gained for our offense. But it all comes back to catching the ball consistently. That’s the most important thing."
Although the return game has been lacking excitement thus far, the Seahawks aren’t complaining about the production. After all, there’s only one Dante Hall, and the Kansas City Chiefs already have him.
"If we had Dante Hall or a player like that, he’d be returning punts. But we don’t," Holmgren said. "Bobby has a role on this team, and one of those roles is being a real steady punt return guy. And those guys are hard to find."
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