Bears Give Tryout to Former Pro Bowl Punt Returner
The Bears are giving Dwayne Harris a workout with a possible eye on a special teams signing to improve their punt return situation.
Harris is a wide receiver who made more than nine receptions only during two seasons in a seven-year career. What he did well was return punts for Dallas, the New York Giants and the Raiders.
The 33-year-old Harris has a career return average of 10.1 yards and last was a regular return man in 2018 with the Raiders. He has four punt return touchdowns for his career and made the Pro Bowl in 2016.
"Obviously his reputation—he's had a good reputation throughout the league," Bears special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said. "Good, tough, physical player, north-south player."
The Bears could be in the market for return help because Ted Ginn Jr. hasn't had the most spectacular start to replacing injured Tarik Cohen. Ginn has averaged 4.6 yards on five punt returns, muffed one last week but recovered it, and let a few hit the ground in front of him that took big hops.
In fairness to Ginn, it's the first time the 35-year-old receiver has actually returned punts since 2017.
"I think first and foremost, Ted's gotten us the ball back, which is priority No. 1," Tabor said. "No. 2, I don't think he's had a lot of opportunities, what I'd call open-field opportunities.
"He did the other day and unfortunately we muffed it but we did a good job of getting back on the football and we're still right there at the 50-yard line. I think chances will come."
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