Bears' Hester kicks it into high gear

It has been almost two years since Devin Hester was the Bears' regular kickoff returner, as he focused more on playing wide receiver.

But they considered Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings pivotal in their quest to make the playoffs.

So why not utilize the guy who needs just one more kick-return touchdown to establish an all-time NFL record? Sunday, the Bears did, and it was obvious Hester hasn't lost his touch.

“Just looking for ways to be productive and get points as much as anything,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. ”We're trying to get Devin the ball on the offensive side (at wide receiver), but putting him back there as a single returner (on kickoffs), you know he'll get an opportunity to make some plays on that. No more than that. Just trying to score points.”

The only points Hester scored came on his 19-yard TD catch, one of his 4 catches for 38 yards, but he added 100 yards on 2 kickoff returns and 47 yards on a pair of punt returns.

Hester came into the game leading the NFL in punt-return average at 15.9 yards, including 2 touchdowns. They were his first after a two-year drought following the 11 kick-return TDs he had in his first two NFL seasons, when it seemed as if every time he touched the ball he was a threat to score.

It seems like that again.

“That's definitely our mind-set, and his, too,” Smith said. “You can kind of feel now every time he goes back there, he's thinking about going the distance. He's 1 touchdown away from being the all-time career TD leader. It's just another opportunity to help the team win. That's what he's trying to do.”

Hester's 42-yard punt-return down the sideline included three broken tackles but also some key blocks, especially one by Rashied Davis.

“Give the credit to my teammates,” Hester said. “They did a great job. Everything just seemed so easy today. Guys went out and got on their guys and busted their tails.”

With Hester handling both kickoff and punt returns, his snaps at wide receiver have diminished, but he's still tied for fourth on the team with 24 receptions and there are no plans to phase him out.

“We're just trying to get everybody involved, Johnny (Knox) as much as anything,” Smith said. “Just spreading some of the plays around a little bit, keeping everybody fresh. Believe me, (Hester) will get his touches one way or another.”

Knox has made his extra snaps pay off. He leads the team with 32 catches and 617 receiving yards, including 5 catches for 90 yards Sunday, and he came in with the fifth-highest yards per catch in the league at 19.5.