Travis Benjamin has Tabor's support

BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns wide receiver Travis Benjamin did not have the return to regular-season game action that he wanted to have in the 2014 opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field last Sunday.

Benjamin averaged 21.3 yards over four returns, took out a kickoff that was nine yards deep in the end zone and failed to make it to the 15-yard line, and singled for three fair catches on four punt returns.

"There would probably one or two returns I felt I could've made a better play at, so we're going to get it started with New Orleans this week," Benjamin said after Thursday's practice.

Midway through the second quarter, Benjamin dropped back nine yards deep into the end zone to return a kickoff, but ran out of bounds at the Browns' nine-yard line. Six plays later, the Browns were forced to punt.

"It was just miscommunication by my part, knowing that it was a field return, so when I caught the ball and came out of the end zone, everybody just ran over there toward the return, so I just tried to get the best yardage I can and get out of bounds," Benjamin said.

"Depending on how the game is, if we know they're slower on kickoff, not getting in their lanes on kickoff, we'll bring it out eight or nine deep. It was just my communication on my behalf that eight or nine deep, knowing the team we're playing against not to bring it out."

When he stepped onto the field in Pittsburgh last Sunday, Benjamin was playing in his first game back since tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in an October loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium last season. However, he insisted there was no hesitation on his part, "not at all."

"When we were reviewing film, I saw that it was one punt return where I fair caught it where I could've caught it and made a move, but it's all about the change of the game," Benjamin said. "If I had questions about my knee, I wouldn't be out there. I wouldn't put myself in the situation to make my team get into bad position."

Although Benjamin struggled against the Steelers, he still has the belief and support of his special-teams coordinator, Chris Tabor.

"I still have a lot of confidence in Travis," Tabor said. "By no means am I going with 'the sky is falling' after one game. I still look at a young man that still holds the franchise record for the longest return, franchise record for the most yards in a game.

"I think that the first pre-season/regular-season game, the first seven times he touched it, he had four touchdowns. I still think it's in there, and it's just his first game back."


(wkyc.com)