Returner Dwayne Harris Never Content to Play it Safe

Dwayne Harris has been returning punts for a decade in the NFL and never has placed in the top 10 in fair catches.

To the newest Bears punt returner, it's all about making the catch and being aggressive.

"Coach calls me a risk taker," Harris said. "I wouldn't call myself a risk taker. It's more that the first game was more of a wind factor for me and calling for a fair catch kind of takes your eyes off the ball a little bit and I never want the ball to hit the ground.

"The worst thing you can do is let the ball hit the ground as a punt returner."

The Bears had the ball hitting the ground with great regularity when Ted Ginn Jr. was supposed to field punts after Tarik Cohen's season-ending torn ACL.

Harris did have one hit last week when he was taken by surprise on a long punt before halftime from back in Tennessee's end zone, but quickly adjusted and made a nifty grab off the hop at a bad angle.

"For me, I've been doing this for over 15 years, catching punts, so for me, it's a comfort level," Harris said. "I'm very confident in me catching every punt. I'm confident in my ability to catch punts.

"A lot of guys are nervous. I'm never nervous catching punts because I've been doing it for so long and taking hits is just part of the game. For me, it's just always been a comfort level."

Even though Harris been returning punt since he did it in 2011 for the Dallas Cowboys he is experiencing something new.

It's Soldier Field, and Monday night he'll be facing the Minnesota Vikings in what could be windier conditions.

"The wind is definitely a factor," Harris said. "The way the wind moves in that stadium is different from any other place I've ever played at.

"Up top it's got a swirl to it and down low it's got more of a swoop movement when wind hits a little harder than up top."

Harris is returning at a 9-yard average for his first nine returns. He expects it to get better as he gets to know teammates. Harris led the NFL in punt return average in 2018 at 14.1 yards a return.

"A punt, it's not really even more about the (blocking) scheme," Harris said. "You gotta learn how your teammates are blocking, you gotta learn how to set up your teammates, you gotta know the way they block, how they block, how fast they're getting back downfield to get to their guys.

"That's the hard part about punt returning. Catching the ball is the easy part. The hard part is just running with the ball because you gotta know your teammates."

This would be right in line with another Bears returner, Devin Hester. When Harris broke in as a Cowboys punt returner, Hester ruled the return world and made an NFL record 14 career punt return touchdowns.

"As a returner, Devin Hester is definitely one of the guys I looked at as a returner throughout my college career and my NFL career," Harris said. "I looked at the way he set up his returns and the way he set up his blocks and that's always one of the big things I always looked at with him as a returner."

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