Both Keisean Nixon and Jayden Reed have handled punt return duties for the Green Bay Packers this season, and how the team goes about deciding who returns and when is situation specific.
“A little bit has to do with field position,” said special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia on Thursday. “A little bit has to do with what the series looked like for Kiesean. How many downs was he in there for on defense? How are they going? How are they both playing? How many reps does Jay (Reed) got on offense, and where he’s at? Those sort of things.”
In addition to each player’s return responsibilities, both also have a full slate of duties on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball as well. Reed is currently second on the team in targets and leads the Packers in receiving yards this season. Nixon, meanwhile, has been Green Bay’s starting nickel corner this season and has played the fifth-most defensive snaps.
Both players have seven punt return attempts this season, with Nixon faring slightly better, averaging 12.4 yards per return, which ranks as the ninth-best in the NFL. Reed is averaging 11.4 yards per return, and that ranks 14th. Each also has a return of at least 30 yards as well. As a team, the Packers rank eighth in average yards gained on punt return attempts.
“Basically, it’s been off of field position for the most part,” added Bisaccia. “They’re both doing a good job right now with decisions and protecting the ball, which is the big thing.”
Although Nixon hasn’t had the same return opportunities on kickoffs this season with opponents kicking through the end zone and away from him, his overall numbers on punts are about on par with last year’s. In 2022, Nixon averaged 12.7 yards per return on 11 attempts, which was good for fifth in the NFL.
Reed was a dynamic return man at Michigan State, averaging 14.9 yards per return on 39 career attempts with three touchdowns. We’ve seen that big play ability and elusiveness on several of his return attempts this season.
Nixon and Reed each have the ability to make a house call every time they touch the ball. However, while the overall numbers and averages look good on paper, if the Packers special teams unit is going to maximize that home run potential, there is still plenty of room for improvement.
In terms of total team penalties, the Packers have been flagged the third-most times this season, with 60 penalties called on them. Of those 60, 13 of them have occurred on special teams, which is the most in football, as are the 119 penalty yards. Creating consistent running lanes for Nixon and Reed is always an area of emphasis as well, especially with there being so much turnover this season with the Packers special teams personnel due to injuries.
”I say it every week,” Bisaccia said, “I don’t know if we are ever really happy or feel like we’ve arrived. I think we have a long way to go. We did some good things last week, but we had another penalty on the first punt return that put us half the distance to the goal. If you’re going to be a good complimentary football team, you can’t do that to your offense or do that to your defense. We had a good stop (on defense). I think we fair caught the ball on the 16-yard line, which gave us some field position compared to where we stopped them, and then we had the ball on the eight-yard line.
“So, to answer your question, I think we are moving in the right direction, but I think we take two steps back every time we have a lack of focus, a lack of concentration, or a lack of fundamental type penalty that puts us backwards, and we have to clean that up.”
For an offense that has struggled to move the ball or put up points with any sort of consistency this season, the play of the punt return unit – whether good or bad – has a massive impact on the offensive side of the ball. A penalty-free return with a positive gain can help flip the field position battle and make life a little easier for the offense.
As Bisaccia mentioned, a penalty or a negative return can all of a sudden have the offense backed up in their own territory and in predictable situations. A quick three-and-out, a frequent occurrence this season for Green Bay, then puts the defense in a bad spot, with the opponent starting with a short field.
