Hester's role changing?

Initial indications seem to be that Devin Hester’s role in the offense might be scaled back so that he can contribute more as a return specialist.

On the Bears’ web site today, new offensive coordinator Mike Martz indicated that Hester might frequently line up in the slot as a third receiver in passing situations. (It would be noted that Martz considers almost any down and distance combination a passing situation.)

“I think he's still the best special-teams return guy in the league, period,” Martz said of Hester. “We have to be careful about how much we ask him to do on offense. That's really a reason the Bears have won some games, is because of Devin and what he does in the return game. So we'll be very judicious in what we ask him to do offensively. But he'll be very involved, and we'll ask him to do some really dynamic things where we can get him isolated in (favorable) personnel match-ups.”

Hester averaged 14.1 yards and scored 7 touchdowns on 89 punt returns in his first two seasons with the Bears, when he was a part-time cornerback and then a part-time wide receiver. In the past two seasons, when Hester was a full-time wide receiver, he averaged just 6.9 yards on 56 punt returns and failed to score.