Falcons wide receiver Brandon Powell won the punt and kickoff returner competition this offseason, but had a rather bland debut against the Seahawks in Week 1.
He returned one punt for eight yards and had two fair catches. The Seahawks boomed their kickoffs into the end zone for seven touchbacks.
“I thought he did a really nice job,” Falcons special-teams coordinator Ben Kotwica said. “He did a good job of catching the ball in warmups. He didn’t have a ton of (opportunities), obviously (with) the touchbacks on the kickoffs and then the one punt (went) out of bounds and the other two were in a safe situations, where we are securing it.”
The Falcons didn’t re-sign Kenjon Barner, who returned a punt for a touchdown last season against Carolina.
It didn’t appear that Powell had the green light to try to make much happen against Seattle. The Falcons are happy with him just catching the ball.
“He did a really good job on that ball that rolled,” Kotwica said. “That’s the hidden yardage a lot of times there if that ball continues to roll, you lose yards. Instead, he brought it back for eight (yards). It was a nice job for him. A good start. We are just looking to build upon it.”
The Cowboys had much more dazzling return game in their season opener. Tony Pollard, a backup running back, had two kickoff returns for 48 yards.
“Pollard was a very successful college returner out of Memphis,” Kotwica said. “He’s got a good burst. Good explosiveness.”
Dallas rookie wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, whom the Falcons passed on to take cornerback A.J. Terrell, had one punt return for 20 yards last week. Lamb had a fair catch, and wide receiver Cedrick Wilson also had a fair catch on a punt return.
“We’re going to have to be at our best in regard to not only delivering the football in the punt and kickoff game in spots where we can minimize those return yards, but we are going to have to attack the football in our coverage aspect as well,” Kotwica said.
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