GREEN BAY – For weeks, Keisean Nixon arrived at Lambeau Field asking the same question. He was like you, seeing the futility of this Green Bay Packers return unit, except for one important difference.
Nixon knew he could do something about it.
He had been returning kickoffs for a month. Even his introduction in that phase of the Packers’ special teams was sensationally delayed. Overnight, Nixon unleashed a lifeless return unit with his thrilling speed and reckless abandon. The first time Nixon got a chance to return a kickoff in Week 6, he fielded the football 2 yards deep in the end zone, cut past a pair of New York Jets tacklers and carried it to the 30.
The kickoff job was his as soon as he got it, but the Packers clung to Amari Rodgers as their return man. While Rodgers bumbled and subdued himself through 10 weeks, Nixon kept asking about getting reps to return punts in practice. The answer was always the same.
Through 10 weeks, Nixon said he didn’t get a single training rep.
“I asked them,” he shrugged.
Coach Matt LaFleur showed no inclination to change his mind when the Dallas Cowboys arrived at Lambeau Field in November. Rodgers dropped back to set up the game’s first three points. When he fumbled on third down, allowing the Cowboys to score a short-field touchdown on just four plays, LaFleur finally relented.
Without a single training rep, Nixon got the job. Rodgers was released three days later. Nixon has been their punt returner ever since.
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“I always knew I could do it,” Nixon said. “I am an athlete. I’ve been doing it since I was little. There are certain things you don’t lose as a child. You still know how to ride a bike. (For me), play football at the highest level. I’ve been doing it all my life, so it’s only natural. Everything, hand-eye coordination, all that stuff is what I’ve always had.
“It’s just the possibility. They gave me one up. It’s time to take care of it.”
It has been a season of retroactive personnel changes on the field. The Packers were slow to move Yosh Nijman to right tackle. They were slower to replace Darnell Savage at safety with Rudy Ford. No change was more overdue than to give Nixon a chance to return points.
In six returns over the last five games, Nixon is averaging 15.3 yards. He averaged 18 yards on a pair of punt returns Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams, electrifying the Packers sideline. Nixon’s 15.3-yard average is second in the NFL, behind only Atlanta’s Avery Williams (16.2-yard average on 18 returns).
Rodgers, when he wasn’t fumbling, averaged 7 yards on 20 returns. It was number 18.
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Yes, LaFleur knows that Nixon’s immediate success begs the question of why he didn’t get the chance to return points sooner.
“It’s unfortunate, I know I’m probably going to get some criticism for not playing him early,” LaFleur said, “and that’s fair. We should have had him there earlier and we didn’t. I don’t think we knew what we had.”
The Packers couldn’t have known Nixon was capable when they signed him this offseason. In three years with the Las Vegas Raiders, he never returned a punt. Rich Bisaccia, the Packers’ first-year special teams coordinator, held the same job throughout Nixon’s tenure with the Raiders. Even after Bisaccia was promoted as the Raiders’ interim head coach late last season, he never put Nixon on the line to return.
Nixon’s first try against the Cowboys showed why. He waited for the snap at the Packers’ 15-yard line, but the football sailed over his head. Nixon backpedaled all the way to the 6-yard line instead of letting the football bounce into the end for a touchback, violating the first punt return rule.
If the punt lands inside the 10-yard line, the returner is coached to drop it.
When Nixon did set the ball, he raised both hands above his head to catch it. As a receiver intercepts a high pass from the quarterback. It was a moment that showed Nixon didn’t really know the nuances of the position, no surprise since he hadn’t practiced it, but the magic started to happen as soon as he had the football. In what was the most exciting punt return to that point this season, Nixon made an unblocked Cowboys punter miss a tackle, picking up 5 yards.
His next return gained 13 yards. Nixon hasn’t slowed down since.
“Kick returns are more natural to me,” said Nixon, who ranks third in the NFL with a 25.4-yard average on 28 returns. “I can only do what I do. Punt back, I had to actually sit and watch film and understand that I can’t just press fast every time. I have to wait for blocks and set it up. That’s why I let the ball drop and fetch the ball instead of catching sometimes.
“I don’t think Rich likes it sometimes, but it’s okay.”
The unorthodox Nixon shows as a punt returner is still noticeable. He is raw. “Fearless,” LaFleur calls him. Nixon has made a habit of fielding punts on the bounce, venturing into situations where more experienced players show caution.
Those heart-stopping moments are why the Packers waited to insert Nixon as their punt returner. Few positions on the court can turn a game around with one mistake faster.
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So far, Nixon’s blind aggressiveness hasn’t cost the Packers.
“It was more or less a situation that he hadn’t done that much in the past,” LaFleur said, “and you want to feel comfortable that he’s going to go into the game and do the right things. You can obviously see that he has a very aggressive mindset, which is mostly very, very good. And it’s sometimes when you’re holding your breath.
“He’s just got an amazing mentality and I love how he competes. He’s a guy who really goes for it and he has no fear of failure, which I totally respect. I think that’s been good for us. »
The Packers haven’t returned a punt for a touchdown since 2014, when Micah Hyde took a pair to the end zone. They haven’t had a kickoff return touchdown since 2011. Nixon could be the specialist to end the drought. However, there are other ways he can find the goal line.
Since taking the return job, Nixon has started asking the head coach a new question when he arrives at Lambeau Field each day. The slot cornerback who has played 282 snaps this season wants to try the other side of the line of scrimmage. Maybe a slot receiver.
“He’s been talking to me every day about it,” LaFleur said, smiling.
Maybe that’s an idea worth exploring.