Cribbs willing to risk long returns

Associated Press

BEREA

Two yards from being out of bounds, and 109 yards from scoring a touchdown, Josh Cribbs took a gamble that paid off for the Browns.

Next time, he might not be so daring.

After watching three straight kickoffs sail over his head for touchbacks in Cleveland’s home opener against Cincinnati on Sunday, Cribbs snagged the fourth one, a line drive to the deepest recesses of the end zone. Cribbs took a deep breath and took off, returning the kick 51 yards to the 43-yard line.

“We needed a spark,” Cribbs said. “We needed something to happen. I felt I could provide that for the team.”

Cribbs’ gutsy return — his initial one in the regular season under the NFL’s new kickoff rules — did indeed fire up the Browns, who overcame a 13-0 deficit before losing 27-17 to the Bengals. Cribbs, the league’s career leader with eight kickoff return touchdowns, said the changes have altered the way he and other specialists will handle returns.

“Coaches want me to be smart, but make plays at the same time,” said Cribbs, who had three kick returns for 91 yards and six punt returns for 58. “Returners will juggle with that. It’s kind of a crapshoot. It’s a tough situation to be in, having to decide whether to be smart or try to make a play for your team.

“It’s almost 50-50.”

That was almost the ratio of touchbacks to kicks returned last week as 79 of 162 (49 percent) were not brought out of the end zone. Last season, only 18 percent (24 of 137) went for touchbacks on the opening weekend.

Cribbs has been highly critical of the league’s rule change, which was implemented for safety concerns. Cribbs argued that there isn’t statistical data to support the switch and he was certain there would be fewer scoring returns.

However, three were taken all the way back last week, matching the opening weekend mark set in 1970 and equaled in 1998.

When he wasn’t playing, Cribbs watched Week 1 games, paying particular attention to every kickoff. He noticed returners being more indecisive than usual. Some grabbed the ball and ran. Others hesitated, and many of them paid for it.

“I see a lot of returners getting themselves in trouble,” he said. “Guys are having some success, but guys are also getting themselves in trouble. You have to be smart and you have to factor in the hangtime of the kick. But, at the same time, guys are trying to make plays.”

Cribbs is unlikely to change too much about his return style. He has promised to choose the smart play over the sensational one — for now. As badly as he would like to return kickoffs from one goal line to the other, Cribbs understands he must lower his expectations or risk disaster.