Projo Pats Blog

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Special teams could play a big role in Sunday's Patriots game versus Miami.

Miami kick returner Ted Ginn Jr. became the first player in NFL history to have two touchdowns of 100 yards or more in the same game when he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns last Sunday against the New York Jets.

His two kickoff returns for a touchdown were a Dolphins record, and so were his 299 return yards.

"Ginn is very fast. He has the ability to take the ball any place on the field - start on one side [and] go to the other, start up the middle [and] bounce it out, start outside [and] cut it back and just outrun just about everybody we have on our kickoff team," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "I don't know that we or any team in the league has more than one or two, if that, people that could run with Ted Ginn.

"Leverage, tackling and discipline in our lanes and recognizing blocking schemes and doing a good job of tackling - all that is going to be crucial against Miami this week, but again we've seen a lot of that all year - good return teams, good returners - and this is another in that list of challenges for us."

Ginn is ranked first in the league among kickoff returners with more than two returns with a 34.9 yards per return average (14 returns for 489 yards).

"He's an explosive guy," Patriots special teams ace Matthew Slater said. "He has good vision, a good change of direction. I think he has all of the tools that you look for that make him a good returner. The tapes speak for itself. Everybody saw what he did. We just have to focus on us and our job and being disciplined and being able to go down and cover him as a unit.

"It can't be one man going down there, trying to make the play. We have to have all 10 guys covering to contain him and we have to stay disciplined."

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