In the Houston Texans’ 10-7 loss to the Cleveland Browns Sunday afternoon at FirstEnergy Stadium, there was a curious development on the punt returns.
Receiver Will Fuller was back on a punt return and field it for a 13-yard return.
According to interim coach Romeo Crennel, part of the reason to incorporate Fuller on the returns was due to the weather, not anything that normal return, DeAndre Carter, was doing or not doing.
“The decision wasn’t to take Carter out, because he was in the punt return, but we had two punt returners back,” Crennel said. “Carter was the short punt returner and Will was the deep one. The weather had something to do with that. Plus, we have used Fuller in the past to return a punt.
“Sometimes it’s just one or we get a feel for maybe a punter outkicking his coverage and now Will will be able to take it and get started and have a chance to make a big play. We had him deep and Carter short and he was able to field the deeper kick and get it started up the sideline.”
Fuller’s return resulted in Houston setting up first-and-10 at the Cleveland 49-yard line. It was favorable field position the Texans could not use to generate points, as the drive ended in kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn booting a punt from field goal formation.
Crennel indicated they may try Fuller’s hand at punt returner throughout the season.
Said Crennel: “Now, we might continue to do that from time to time. I don’t know if it will be a full-time thing, but we’ve used Will in the past, put him in and let him return one because he can catch it and he has return ability.”
The Texans take on the New England Patriots in Week 11 at NRG Stadium, and it could be another chance for Fuller to get another shot at having the ball in the open field.
