The 49ers can’t bank on Ted Ginn to score touchdowns on kickoff
and punt returns every game, as he did in Sunday’s opening win. But
their special-teams units indeed look poised for a reliable season.
Two-time Pro Bowl punter Andy Lee, new kicker David Akers and long
snapper Brian Jennings also enjoyed solid debuts Sunday under
first-year coordinator Brad Seely.
”
I’m sitting in those meetings every day and learning a lot of
football from Coach Seely, and I know our players are, as well,
”
coach Jim Harbaugh said.
”
It’s great we got results, and so quickly.
”
Cam Inman, Contra Costa Times
SANTA CLARA
The 49ers can’t bank on Ted Ginn to score touchdowns on kickoff and punt returns every game, as he did in Sunday’s opening win. But their special-teams units indeed look poised for a reliable season.
Two-time Pro Bowl punter Andy Lee, new kicker David Akers and long snapper Brian Jennings also enjoyed solid debuts Sunday under first-year coordinator Brad Seely.
“I’m sitting in those meetings every day and learning a lot of football from Coach Seely, and I know our players are, as well,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “It’s great we got results, and so quickly.”
Added Lee: “The way (Seeley) approaches his job is very good for us and the team. He coaches well and knows how to get through to guys.”
Lee’s net average of 54.2 yards on five punts Sunday ranked as the second-best single-game mark in NFL history, behind the Indianapolis Colts’ Rohn Stark’s 1992 record of 59.5 net average. Lee’s 59.6 gross average ranked third all-time in the NFL record book, behind Detroit’s Bob Cifers (61.75 in 1946) and Green Bay’s Roy McKay (61.6, 1945).
Lee’s most impressive punt was a 64-yard effort that took two bounces before halting at the Seahawks’ 2-yard line. “There’ve been a lot of fun punts (in his career), and that was a good one,” said Lee, who is embracing a new emphasis on directional punting under Seely.
As for Akers, the 14-year veteran made all four of his field-goal attempts and three point-after kicks. It was Akers’ first outing since missing 2 of 3 field goal attempts for the Philadelphia Eagles in last year’s wild-card playoff loss to Green Bay.
Three of Akers’ kickoffs Sunday resulted in touchbacks, which are expected to be commonplace throughout the league this year now that kickoffs start at the 35-yard line instead of the 30. Akers expects returners, however, to dare what Ginn did on his last kickoff return — bring it out of his own end zone.
“I understand the safety of (the longer kickoff), but guys will say, ‘We want to score points, and let’s take a chance,'”‰” Akers said. “You’ll see guys want to take more chances because they’re itching to get a return.”
Akers isn’t willing to predict a slew of long returns this year, noting how weather and field conditions will change for the worse.
Ginn said: “When you go out, you’re supposed to win every phase of the game. People don’t really count on special teams. We try to make one of our phases be special teams and try to win every down of it. It can help you out in a game, and you saw what it did for us at the end of (Sunday’s) game.”
Overseeing that unit is Seely, a 23-year NFL coaching veteran who won three Super Bowl rings as the New England Patriots’ special-teams coach from 1999-2008. He spent the past two seasons with the Cleveland Browns and Pro Bowl returner Josh Cribbs.
“He’s like a professor at an institute of higher learning,” Harbaugh said of Seely, who declined an interview request. “It’s outstanding how he gets his point across. Not just on special teams, but broader — tackling, leverage and angles. It’s really good.”
If Seely adopts “The Professor” nickname, Jennings might be responsible. “I don’t want to take credit for it because I don’t know if he’d like it or not,” Jennings said. “He’s for sure like a professor: very straightforward, methodical and with a voice that is very even.”
Next up for the 49ers is a visit Sunday by the Dallas Cowboys, who had a fourth-quarter punt blocked and returned for a tying touchdown in Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the New York Jets. Jennings said the Cowboys present a challenge with “unorthodox” formations. They didn’t return a kickoff or punt more than 16 yards, and their kickoff-return unit settled for four touchbacks.
Possible Cowboys punt returner Dez Bryant did not practice this week because of a strained quadriceps, and his status probably will be determined at game time.?
— Running back Frank Gore and linebacker Patrick Willis might be the 49ers’ captains, but, unlike others around the league, they don’t wear patches signifying their stature. “That’s a hockey thing. That’s not football to us,” Harbaugh said. “The ‘C’ on the jersey is hockey. We have great respect for the game of hockey.”
— Wide receiver Michael Crabtree (foot) and safety Dashon Goldson (knee) are game-time decisions, Harbaugh said. Officially listed as questionable, both players were the only ones on this week’s injury reports.
