Falcons returner Devin Hester, after a great week of practice, was activated to the 53-man roster Friday and is expected to play against Tampa Bay on Sunday.
“He had a great week. … you could (see) how hard he worked to push (to come back),” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “He had a great week.”
Hester expected to get the green light.
“We are going to let it rip this week and see how we feel in practice and get a thumbs up for the game time,” Hester said .
The Falcons placed wide receiver Leonard Hankerson, who’s had a troublesome hamstring injury, on injured reserve. Hankerson, who was signed as a free agent, had 26 catches for 327 yards for three touchdowns.
The dynamic Hester was placed on the reserved/injured-designated for return (short-term injured reserve) with a nasty turf-toe injury Oct. 6. He has not played this season.
Quinn has closely watched Hester’s progress daily as he worked to return.
“His mindset and quickness, the attitude that he had, looked right on point,” Quinn said.
Special-teams coordinator Keith Armstrong also had a role in the decision.
“It’s encouraging when you see him out there catching punts and kickoffs and that type of stuff,” Armstrong said. “He’s starting to look a little better.”
Eric Weems has done a fine job of returning kicks and punts this season for the Falcons.
Weems has 15 kickoff returns for 403 yards (26.9 per carry) with a long of 50 yards. His average of 26.9 is fourth in the NFL among returners with 15 or more returns.
Weems has 19 punt returns for 221 yards (11.6 per return) with a long of 41 yards. Weems has made 16 catches. His average of 11.6 is second in the league among returns with 19 or more returns. Cleveland’s Travis Benjamin leads the league with an average of 12.4.
While Weems has been strong, Hester, if fully recovered, is considered perhaps the greatest returner of all-time. He could put a charge into the team and fear in the hearts of the Tampa Bay coverage units.
“He’s such a unique player and has the speed,” Quinn said.
Hester, formerly of the Chicago Bears, played in 2014 with the Falcons.
Last season, he played in 16 games with one start and caught 38 passes for 504 yards and two touchdowns. Hester also led the NFL in yards per punt with 13.3, number of kickoff/punt returns (63), and combined kick and punt yards with 1,368 yards.
“His vision and his ability to get top speed in two steps,” Armstrong said. “He’s flat-out explosive. He’s got really good vision. Those are natural traits that obviously you don’t train. He has them. He’s a ball carrier. There is no doubt about that.”
The Bucs are coached by Lovie Smith, who drafted Hester when he was with the Bears.
“I’ve been on the sideline to watch him set about every record that you can set as a returner,” Smith said. “The Atlanta Falcons are a lot better with Devin Hester on the football field. … we’ll have our work cut out playing him.”
The Bucs may elect kick away from Hester.
“We’ll try to keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible,” Smith said. “When he has it in his hands, we need to contain him.”
Armstrong has a high regard for Tampa Bay’s coverage units.
“It’s amazing,” Armstrong said. “They have a bunch of big guys that can run. They’ve got speed at every position. It’s probably the most speed that we’ve seen all year.”
He expects the Bucs will kick it to Hester.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they kick to Hester,” Armstrong said. “They are the fastest cover unit that we’ve seen all year. They are certainly not afraid to cover anybody. I think they punt the ball. (Jacob) Schum has done a nice job placing the ball and hanging it. I think they’ll punt to anybody. With the speed that they have at linebacker, safety and the receivers, as good of a job as they do covering, I don’t see them being afraid to kick to anybody.”
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