Devin Hester will be 'fresh'

It has almost occurred on cue. Now that the Chicago Bears have made Devin Hester solely a returner, rather than try to double him up on offense, the truth comes out. Speaking with Jon Greenberg of ESPNChicago.com this week, Hester said he expects to be "fresh" now for all of his returns.

Hester: "I'm not going to be tired when I'm out there. My legs are going to be fresh. That's the key thing, me being fresh. Returners have to be fresh. It's impossible to go 50-60 snaps on offense and try to return the whole game. I'm in the stage where I'm in a good mood to do what I love doing."

I can't tell you how many times we exchanged that sentiment on the blog over the past few years. Expecting Hester, or anyone else, to be an elite returner while also playing regularly on offense didn't seem realistic. In fact, Hester estimates he'll touch the ball more on a per-game basis now than he did in multiple roles before.

"I know during the season I'm going to touch the ball five or six times a game," Hester said. "I mean, when I was playing offense I was only touching the ball once or twice on offense. If you add it up, I'll probably be touching the ball a little more and be fresher to do what I love doing."

Makes sense to me.


(espn.com)