Saturday, November 13, 1999Slow punting leaves Brice on shaky ground
Healthy Costello also puts punter's job in jeopardy
BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati EnquirerWill Brice is learning on the job as the Bengals' first-year punter. But his window of opportunity may be closing.
Brice, whose 40.8-yard punting average ranks 26th in the 31-team NFL, knows Brad Costello could be waiting in the wings. Costello, the Bengals punter before tearing a thigh muscle in preseason, is eligible to return Nov. 23 under terms of an injury settlement.
“I don't think about it at all,” Brice said of Costello's possible return. “I don't have any idea what they're going to do, but whatever happens will happen.”
The deliberate Brice sometimes takes too long to punt, and has nearly exhausted the patience of coach Bruce Coslet. Two blocked punts, two deflected punts, and a punt return for a touchdown have led to 29 opposing points this season.
The latest episode was Sunday at Seattle. Brice, punting from his own end zone, had a punt deflected, and it went only 27 yards.
What other advice can Cos- let give at this point, with every punt a white-knuckler for coaches?
“Speed it up. Kick it faster,” Coslet told reporters this week. “I tell the kid every day. ... The light hasn't gone on for him.”
Coslet said the Bengals put Brice in “adverse situations” every day at practice. They put him inside the 5-yard line, back to the one-inch line at times. Placekicker Doug Pelfrey times him with a stopwatch.
“He's got to be catching the ball and moving forward, and take one step and kick it,” Coslet said.
Brice, a 6-foot-5 left-footed punter, said he is trying.
“I thought the one in the (Seattle) game was a good get-off time,” he said. “Each time, we've got to have a good snap, I've got to get it off quick, and we need good protection.
“If all three of those don't work, it's not going to happen for us.”
Between Brice's struggles and the special teams' spotty coverage, the Bengals have a sickly 30.5 net punting average that ranks 29th in the NFL.
Yet, there is precedent for Brice to do well. He set a one-game Bengals record in the season opener at Tennessee, with a 63.0-yard average that included a 72-yard punt — one yard shy of Costello's team record.
Brice, although he just turned 25, has been around a bit. He punted in six games as a St. Louis Rams rookie in 1997, averaging 41.8 yards per kick. He has since been with the New York Giants (waived), NFL Europe League, and Green Bay (waived this past summer). The Bengals signed him Sept. 3, just nine days before the opener. “You see these kickers come out of college, a lot of times they bounce around with three or four teams and then they finally figure it out,” Coslet said. “(Brice) is 6-foot-5, he's got a long stride, he's got a powerful leg. We like him, but he's got a lot of work to do to become an NFL-caliber punter.”
Brice is older than Costello by six weeks and has played in 15 NFL games compared to just three for Costello.
But Costello averaged a strong 49.5 yards per punt in his three games after replacing the fired Lee Johnson last December, and was a shoo-in to be the Bengals' punter this year.
Bengals President Mike Brown won't say what the plan is, but Costello said this week that his goal was to return to Cincinnati. But, he also said he has had interest from other teams and may be going to some workouts next week.
Brice has made himself more valuable by doubling as the kickoff man, and also became the placekick holder for Pelfrey a few weeks ago.
“I'm just trying to do my best to improve myself individually and help this team any way I can,” he said. “I'm happy for the opportunity that I have here, and if it ends tomorrow, I'm going to be thankful regardless.”
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