Lions must feel sick after kicking to Hester
Devin Hester, you are ... cough, cough, hack, hack ... sick.
Ridiculously so.
Listed on the injury report as questionable after not practicing all week, the Bears’ super return man tied on his cape for Sunday’s game against Detroit at windy Soldier Field and helped the Bears win 37-13 by doing what he does best, before being ruled out for the game early in the second half because of illness.
“He was a little under the weather, along with having an ankle injury, but he felt like he could go,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said.
“I’ve had a great seat to watch every return he’s had, and he’s had a lot of great ones.”
Hester added another one to the record book against the Lions.
Detroit decided early on to test Hester and the ankle he tweaked against Philadelphia on Monday night.
It was a decision that had to make Detroit Nation sick.
Hester returned newly signed punter Robert Malone’s first punt of the game 29 yards and might have scored had Malone not wrestled him out of bounds at the Bears 48.
Early in the second quarter, Detroit wasn’t as fortunate. Malone boomed a 60-yarder that Hester muffed at the 20 while trying to make an over-the-shoulder catch. He picked up the ball at the 18 and headed down the Detroit sideline. He barely stayed in bounds around the 50, shed an attempted ankle tackle by Justin Durant at the 10 and high-stepped into the end zone for an 82-yard return and a 20-0 lead with 14:15 left before halftime.
The punt return for touchdown was Hester’s 12th of his career and 17th career kick return for TD (5 kickoff returns), extending both of his NFL records.
Detroit punted to Hester one more time. He broke free again, gaining 35 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the 50. A holding penalty against Zackary Bowman brought the ball back, and Hester was credited with an 11-yard return.
When the Lions punted again, Malone, who signed with the Lions two days earlier to replace regular punter Ryan Donahue (quadriceps injury), booted the ball out of bounds.
“Well, we tried to sideline that ball,” Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said. “But have you ever played golf? You try hitting the fairway, don’t you? Goes in the woods. You’re going to make par on the 18th hole to win a major championship. And yet, you put it in the woods. And then it doesn’t always go where you want.
“We wanted to sideline him,” Schwartz added of Hester. “But that being said, our coverage wasn’t very good. We got stacked up, particularly on that long one.”
At halftime, up 20-6, the Bears decided that Hester’s night was over after he piled up 122 yards on his 3 punt returns.
“It was a combination (of being sick and not practicing),” Smith said.
“And then early, when you have a long return like that (82-yarder for touchdown), that didn’t help the case any either. But he’ll come back ready to go.”