The Patriots will face their former All-Pro returner Gunner Olszewski in Pittsburgh this weekend, after the former undrafted player joined the Steelers as a free agent this offseason.
Olszewski’s departure obviously left a pretty sizeable hole in the Patriots special teams units. The former Division II defensive back out of Bemidji State had handled most of New England’s punts over the last three seasons and kickoffs the previous two years.
When the Patriots drafted Marcus Jones in the third round of last April’s draft, it seemed safe to assume that the two-time All-American returner from Houston might immediately take over the return duties in New England.
But when the regular season opened last Sunday in Miami, it was third-year defensive back Myles Bryant handling the punt return role against the Dolphins, including one 12-yard return.
After a 30-yard return in the opening preseason contest of the summer against the Giants, Bryant revealed that he hadn’t returned punts since high school. But Bryant did enough over the course of the summer to earn the first crack at the job this fall, ahead of his more experienced teammate.
“Myles did a great job this spring,” Patriots special teams coach Cam Achord said this week. “When we approached him about it he really took hold of the opportunity. You could definitely see the time he put into it. He’s definitely going to track the ball and field the ball. He did a great job in preseason. He had a couple big ones in the preseason and just goes through the daily process of showing up for practice every day, getting better every day, running with the ball in his hands. He made a good run to get 12 yards on one return Sunday. So that was good to see. But he’s done a really good job for us. And Marcus continues to do a good job for us as well out there, among other guys. It’s just the day to day, the practice, what you’re seeing out there from the guys that leads you to make the best decision for the team.”
Even with Jones ready as a proven option at least at the college level – he had nine combined punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns in college – Achord believes that Bryant will only get better in the return role as he gains experience with the decision-making that comes being back deep on punts.
“I think the comfortability comes with reps,” Achord said. “And you can say reps in practice, but a guy’s not coming down to hit you usually in practice. You are going to stay off of one another. So having the confidence to get under a ball. Knowing when to catch it. Knowing you’re going to get hit or not gonna get hit. Being able to make a move decisively, and the confidence in that. There’s a big factor in that. Obviously you have to have some courage. You have to have some aggressiveness. You can’t be scared going back there.”
Bryant certainly hasn’t looked scared by any means. In fact he’s been surprisingly productive and decisive for a guy with such limited experience as a punt returner.