Four possibilities at punt returner for Patriots

FOXBOROUGH — With Cyrus Jones and Julian Edelman now looking like they’ll both be gone for the season, where will the Patriots turn for their punt returning duties in 2017? Here are four possible candidates to keep an eye on moving forward.



Danny Amendola: Amendola has the most impressive resume of anyone on this list, at least when it comes to the NFL level. He had at least 16 punts returns a year for the last three seasons, including 23 in 2015 when he finished with a career-best average of 12 yards per return. In his career, he’s averaged 10 yards per return. The only question about the 5-foot-11, 183-pounder? His health. He has struggled to avoid injury the last few years, and with the injury to Edelman, he’s needed more than ever to help provide depth at the receiver spot. He could fill in as a returner, but ultimately, he might be deemed too valuable.

Will Likely: After Jones went down, the rookie got his shot late in Thursday’s preseason loss to the Giants, and came away with a pair of returns for a total of seven yards. He didn’t re-invent the position against New York, but he did take plenty of reps in camp after a college career at Maryland that saw him return 67 punts for a total of 875 yards (13.1 yards per return) and four touchdowns. The Patriots would have to do some roster shuffling because Likely is at the back end of the depth chart at cornerback, but the 5-foot-9, 165-pounder certainly appears to have the resume if you’re looking for someone to fill the spot.

D.J. Foster: The Arizona State product has limited college experience at the position, but has worked there sporadically in the last year-plus with the Patriots, including last preseason. After Thursday's game, he spoke confidently about the possibility of doing more this time around with New England. With his positional versatility (he could line up at running back and receiver) and special teams value, the possibility of landing a spot as a returner could push the 6-foot, 195-pounder over the top when it comes to landing a spot on the 53-man roster.

Other: For the record, Keshawn Martin is still on the open market after being released by the Lions last week. Martin isn’t a world beater at the position, but is a guy who has a working knowledge of the Patriots’ system from his time in Foxborough in 2015. In four-plus years in the NFL, he has 94 career punt returns and a 9.1 average on returns. That includes eight returns for 92 yards (11.5 yards per return) the season when he was in New England. Not overwhelming, but a name worth watching when it comes to the wave after wave of player movement this weekend. It's also worth noting that Patrick Chung, Devin McCourty and even Brandin Cooks have done it before, and could be used as emergency returners, if need be.

(For the record, we’re not including Rex Burkhead and Dion Lewis on this list because of a lack of experience. Burkhead did some limited punt return work in college while at Nebraska, but has yet to return a punt in the NFL. And while Lewis has worked as a kick returner for the Patriots, he has no experience as a punt returner in the league. As for Austin Carr, he doesn’t have any live game experience as a punt returner in the NFL, but did say Thursday night after the game that he was the second punt returner while at Northwestern. However, he didn’t post any special teams stats as a collegian at least as far as we can tell.)