In Seattle last year, Golden Tate was both a starting wide receiver and the punt returner. When the Lions signed him this offseason, they decided to put all his attention on offense. But with the playoffs coming, Tate would like a shot at returning punts again.
Although Tate was careful to say he’s not trying to push Jeremy Ross out of his job returning punts, Tate did say that he’d love to get a chance to do it on Sunday against the Cowboys.
“I also pay close attention because you never know when Jeremy Ross breaks a shoelace or needs a breather for whatever the reason is or whatever,” he said, via Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News. “I always want to be prepared, and like I’ve been saying, I want to help this team any way I can. In my mind, this is a must-win game and there’s nobody that wants to get back to the big show again [more] than I so I’m trying to help this team get there.”
Lions coach Jim Caldwell said it’s a possibility, although as always, he played things close to the vest.
“Everything is considered,” Caldwell said when asked of the possibility of Tate returning punts. “Everything is looked at seriously.”
Ross has averaged 8.9 yards per punt return this year. Tate averaged 11.5 yards per punt return for the Seahawks last year. Tate also has better hands than Ross, who has fumbled four times this year. The bottom line is that Tate is a better punt returner than Ross. If the Lions didn’t want Tate returning punts in the regular season because they wanted to save him for offense, that’s understandable. But in the playoffs, the best players need to be on the field. And that means that when the Cowboys are punting, Tate should be on the field and Ross should be on the sideline.
Subject: Lions could use Golden Tate on punt returns 
