SCORES TWICE AFTER A PUCK TO THE FACE
The Eagles are ranked 30th in the NFL in kick returns, averaging 20.1 yards per return. Only Tennessee and Oakland have a lower average.
The Birds are expected to turn to Macho Harris over Jeremy Maclin for Sunday night's game against Chicago, with Ellis Hobbs out following season-ending spinal surgery and Quintin Demps sidelined with a high ankle sprain.
“I like [Macho]," special teams coordinator Ted Daisher said. "He’s very aggressive. He hits it up in there north and south, very decisive with the ball in his hands. He has some toughness. He has a good feel on how to run the ball.
"I think Jeremy has potential to be a good returner and if we did a little better job blocking I think he would get the same results.”
The Eagles have had a significant numbers of penalties on special teams, which helps account for their poor resuls statistically, Daisher said.
“Statistically we may be down there, but if you’re an opponent playing us I think you need prepare very hard to play our kickoff return unit and our return game," Daisher said. "We have some excellent returners. I think the penalties have played a role. Obviously we would be ranked much higher if those things weren’t involved. We’re making progress. Are we where I’d like us to be right now? No, but I think we’re going in the right direction.”
On the other side of the field, the marquee name is Devin Hester, who is no longer returning kickoffs but remains the punt returner. He has returned 17 this season with a 9.9-yard average and a long of 33 yards.
“We have tremendous respect for Devin Hester," Daisher said. "I’ve watched him over the last several years; he’s obviously as good a punt returner as there has ever been, in my opinion. We have to do a good job of being disciplined, staying in our lanes and executing because if you have any problems at all with your coverage, he’ll exploit it.”
Les
Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News
since 2002.
Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les
only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no
penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite
what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News
from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much
lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their
two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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