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It\u2019s been a revolving door at kick returner for the New England Patriots this season. Six different players have returned kicks thus far, and three of them have been rookies in their first NFL season.<\/p>\n
One of those rookies \u2014 wide receiver Kyle Williams \u2014 was the most recent Patriot to line up to return kicks, and it\u2019s been a promising start to his new positional journey.<\/p>\n
“My first one was a little nerve-wracking, because I really haven\u2019t been back there,” Williams said, via MassLive’s Karen Guregian. “But once you get used to it, it becomes backyard football at that point.”<\/p>\n
The Washington State product took three kickoffs back against the Cincinnati Bengals for a total of 86 yards, a solid number for a player who wasn\u2019t one of the initial Patriots to return kicks to begin the year.<\/p>\n
The year started with running back Antonio Gibson as the top guy. The veteran took one kick to the house in Week 2 and looked like a brand new weapon for New England, before he tore his ACL on a kickoff just three weeks later.<\/p>\n
Since then, Efton Chism III (361 yards), TreVeyon Henderson (209), Rhamondre Stevenson (40) and Terrell Jennings (20) have each returned kicks. It appears that Williams is likely the guy to stick.<\/p>\n
“I love the way he played,” Springer said. “He\u2019s a speed guy, and on top of that, in this new dynamic with kickoffs, you can\u2019t really have any fear back there. You\u2019ve gotta go. And I felt like he did that, especially on the last kickoff return where he almost had a touchdown.<\/p>\n “He really had a good mentality throughout the game. He was confident catching it.”<\/p>\n With the Giants next on the docket for New England, and the team\u2019s second game under the home lights in three weeks, it\u2019s a perfect opportunity for Williams to score his second career touchdown \u2014 and first in front of the home crowd. He had a long touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the passing game in Week 11, but now he\u2019s got an opportunity to become the third Patriots player to score on special teams this year.<\/p>\n “I told coach Springer all I needed was one back there. And he finally gave me that chance,” Williams said. “Now, it\u2019s my turn to take it and run with it … and for me, the slightest crease means hit it at 100 miles an hour.”<\/p>\n Make sure you bookmark New England Patriots on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns, and so much more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s been a revolving door at kick returner for the New England Patriots this season. Six different players have returned kicks thus far, and three of them have<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Sep](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3812,h_2144\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/patriots_country\/01kb6ymrdvvp9xzwm7y0.jpg\")
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n“Now It’s My Turn To Take It And Run With It”<\/h2>\n