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One thing that reporters have learned to deal with in today's NFL is that you'll rarely get a straight answer from coaches when they're asked about personnel decisions leading into a game.
That's just the nature of things in a league that values secrecy and surprise.
Who will be starting at cornerback this Sunday?
- There are a lot of guys in the mix.
What's Todd Heap's injury status?
- We'll see how he is on gameday.
What color Ravens polo shirt are you going to wear on the sideline?
- That's tactical information. We'll just have to see how it plays out.
Following the standard coaches' guide to answering questions, special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg declined to shed much light on the Ravens' punt return rotation yesterday.
"We have a number of guys back there that are practicing. I think you probably heard this answer before," Rosburg said with a smile. "We'll see who shows up on Sunday."
Asked about Donte' Stallworth, who will likely make his 2010 season debut after missing the first seven games with a broken foot, Rosburg said the eight-year veteran is in the mix.
"He's one of the guys that we're working, so we'll see on Sunday," Rosburg said.
Personally, I'd be surprised to see Stallworth get the call to return punts this weekend. I don't think the Ravens will want to throw him into the fire too quickly, and will instead opt to give Chris Carr or Lardarius Webb the call this week and work Stallworth in after he gets his feet wet on Sunday.
As for kickoffs, Josh Wilson and David Reed are the two most likely to get the returns this week.
Rosburg said that during the Ravens' bye week, he and the coaching staff took a look at the return game and tried to figure out what can be done to give a boost to a unit which currently has the league's worst punt return average and the 10th-lowest kickoff return numbers.
"I mean, we looked harder at return games and all aspects of it - the blocking, the coaching, the returners in both phases," Rosburg said. "And the conclusions we made, generally speaking, were that yes, it's a lot of different factors are going on. And there are a lot of different things we need to do to get better.
"There are times when opportunities are there and we don't take advantage of them. That's the one thing we addressed that's so important, is when we do have the right kind of kick or punt, and we do have the right call made, and we do have the blocking, then we have to make those opportunities count. And that's not something we've done a real good job of."
Who will get the chance to jump start the return game this Sunday against the Dolphins?
Rosburg could tell you, but then he'd have to kill you.
