Wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie has now fumbled the ball on punt returns five times this season, and yet, the Denver Broncos’ coaching staff keeps giving him opportunities.
After a quick three-and-out by the Broncos’ defense, McKenzie stepped onto the field to field the punt by New England Patriots’ punter Ryan Allen. McKenzie muffed the punt, allowing the Patriots to regain possession, and beginning the avalanche that buried the Broncos.
“It happened pretty quickly,” McKenzie said after the game. “The punter kicked it short, and I thought I had a chance to get it. I should’ve made a fair catch with a guy in my face. He hit me and the ball came out.”
This is the second time a fumble by McKenzie has been recovered by the other team, and both times have resulted in the opponent scoring points. It’s also the third fumble during the losing streak that he has had, and all have come on punts.
Granted, not all of the special teams problems fall on McKenzie. The Patriots gave the unit fits all night, causing them to give up 24 points off of various plays, including an extremely rare kickoff return for a touchdown and a blocked punt.
Given the amount of opportunities that McKenzie has been offered, especially as a rookie, the number of mistakes have started to become unforgivable.
“It puts us in a big hole, and I put that blame all on me,” McKenzie said. “If I would’ve caught that first punt or did anything with it besides turn it over, we probably would’ve been in the game. Things would’ve changed for us.”
McKenzie has been anything but efficient in punt returns since the Broncos have returned from their bye week. McKenzie is averaging only 8.0 yards per punt return and has had three of his five fumbles, including both turnovers. Along with that, he has hardly contributed to the offense at all, catching two passes for 14 yards since the bye week.
But so far, head coach Vance Joseph has been noncommittal about making any changes to the punt return unit.
“He’s our punt returner,” Joseph said in his post-game press conference. “That’s his job, so he has to do it. Looking forward, if he can’t do the job, we have to change it.”
The Broncos now have to look ahead to the Cincinnati Bengals, who are allowing punt returners an average of 11.9 yards per attempt. If McKenzie remains the starter, he will have to find a spark against the Bengals to get the punt return unit back on their feet. First, however, he’ll have to hold on the ball.
The Broncos will take on the Bengals on Nov. 19 at 2:25 p.m. in Denver.
