WOW...I think I know who the real HC is now...it's ARE. He decided he wants his job back, that he sucks at! Zorn is a poster child for what a HC isn't!
Zorn says Randle El is primary punt returner
Coach Jim Zorn today contradicted comments he made the previous two days about the team's punt return situation, saying after practice "nothing has changed" and Antwaan Randle El would remain the team's primary returner.
"Antwaan, I guess he got asked a couple of questions, and he came into my office to talk about it," Zorn said. "I said, 'Well, there's really nothing to talk about. Nothing has changed.' That's how I would bill it. There's no difference."
In an interview Monday, Zorn said the team planned to expand cornerback DeAngelo Hall's role as a punt returner, using him more than Randle El - the primary returner the last four seasons - while also continuing to occasionally turn to top receiver Santana Moss in a change-of-pace role. Zorn said Hall "probably" would handle the first punt return Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome and be used more than Randle El during the game.
"One of the things that's going to happen is we're going to get another guy involved in punt returning and that's going to be DeAngelo," Zorn said Monday. "We're going to try to get him more and more reps. I've been trying to get Santana at least a couple of punt returns a game and I'm going to continue that. You're still going to see Antwaan out there but it'll be a little more flipped as far as the involvement. You're going to see more and more" of Hall.
During his radio Tuesday show on ESPN 980, Zorn acknowledged "the situation has changed." Zorn reiterated that he intends to use Hall, Moss and Randle El, and if Randle El "was purely a punt returner who has had production, he'd probably continue on. ... Not totally his problem, but with some of the production problems that we've had there, I'm starting to interject with other guys."
But Zorn reversed field today, only committing to Hall being "involved. And if he's involved more, it'll be one or two reps. But it's not necessarily a change. It's just an addition to get him more involved. He was last week. Antwaan Randle El is our punt returner. You're going to see Santana Moss, which you have, and you're going to see DeAngelo Hall, who you saw last game, and we'll see what happens."
On his radio show Tuesday, Zorn said he wasn't certain who'd return the first punt Sunday against the Falcons. Asked the same question after practice Wednesday, Zorn said Randle El would return the first punt.
Asked to explain his comments about Randle El on his radio show, Zorn said he never made an official statement regarding the situation. "Remember, I was asked that on every single thing I did yesterday," Zorn said. "I did four or five interviews yesterday. That was the No. 1 question. And I guess what I'm doing is saying there's not as much to it as whatever's been reported."
In Randle El's final year in Pittsburgh, 2005, he averaged 10.2 yards per return. In his first year in Washington, that number dropped to 8.8 yards. In 2007, it was 6.1, and in 2008, it was 6.5. And this year: 5.2 yards on his 11 returns, which does not count his 11 fair catches or his two fumbles.
On Monday, Zorn said part of his reasoning for planning to give Hall a bigger role was because Randle el has "dropped a couple" and the team simply needed more production from the position. "No one gave me the okay that I was going to be back there returning," Hall said after practice. "I got the same reps I normally get. Me, Santana and El split them up, so, you know, no change in order. El goes first, Tana second, I'm third. Same thing."