ExtremeRavens Posted 21 hours ago Posted 21 hours ago That pesky Cleveland wind roaring off the shores of Lake Erie, a talking point all of last week, bit LaJohntay Wester in a crucial spot Sunday. The sixth-round rookie stood 10 yards in front of the end zone, planted between the painted one and zero. A gust of wind redirected the ball. Wester chased it closer to the hashes extending for a futile diving effort. The football slipped through his grasp. It dribbled behind him where the Browns recovered, earning possession at the 6-yard line with the game tied early in the second quarter. Baltimore’s defense bailed Wester out thanks to an impressive goal-line stand, holding the Browns to a field goal. Still, Ravens coach John Harbaugh called it a “challenging ball.” One that Wester should “definitely want to get away from.” “It’s probably his first game playing in those kind of conditions, with that kind of wind, in an AFC-North-type of a stadium, with that kind of a ‘cutter’ ball,” Harbaugh said. “It was a left-footed punter, and the ball’s cutting away from him. That’s probably one of the most challenging — especially at that end of that stadium.” Wester thought he tracked the football OK. His focus slipped off the ball to peek at how much room he’d have to return. Two defenders were closing in. When he locked eyes with it again, the ball had sailed five yards to his left. “I tried to adjust last minute, and I ended up muffing it,” he said. Wester is an electrifying returner. General manager Eric DeCosta called him “twitchy” and “explosive” after using a sixth-round pick on the return specialist in April. Wester has been itching for a house call since. He took one all the way back in the preseason, a glimpse at what’s possible. And a few shoe-string tackles have tripped him up shy of finding open field since. His only other muffed punt this season came against the Rams, which was negated by a penalty. Wester capitalized on the do-over with a 35-yard return, his longest of the season. His 14.4 yards per return rank eighth in the NFL. Sunday’s win showed both sides of the coin, having an aggressive, 23-year-old, Day 3 pick back there ready to burst. He muffed a punt he should’ve let bounce into the end zone. And earlier in the game, Wester fielded one at the 2-yard line, another hindsight would say he probably should have let dribble away, that he returned to the 21-yard line. He was more cautious the next time. Cleveland punted on a short field in the fourth quarter and Wester made no play on the ball that bounced near the 5-yard line. The Browns nearly pinned Baltimore at the half-yard line if not for a friendly review showing a toe touching blades of grass at the goal line. “You don’t want to be hard and fast too much,” Harbaugh said. “But you do want to have principles built around the rule.” For years, conventional wisdom said if the ball was landing inside 10, don’t risk it. “Those days have changed a little bit,” Harbaugh said. A line-drive kick provides some extra space to run or a chip shot can pin a team deep. Wester is still figuring out how to manage some of those kicks. His coach called him “really accountable.” “I didn’t know I caught it at the 2 until I got to the sideline,” Wester said postgame, admitting he lost where his feet were. “I trust my guys that are blocking for me, and [Cleveland’s Corey Bojorquez] kicked a returnable ball to me. I feel like I’m the type player to be able to flip the field.” The coaching staff has trusted his decision making in the past. Last week in Minnesota, with lighter conditions protected by the Vikings’ dome, Wester similarly tracked a kickoff at the 2-yard line and ran it back 20 yards. Special teams coordinator Chris Horton said “that ball could have easily” been downed but Wester “made the right decision in that situation.” So what exactly did a muffed punt, a gutsy return and a nearly fatal surrender on Sunday — all in blustery AFC North conditions — teach him? “I know now that when the ball is in the air, that’s mine,” Wester said. “And I have the whole organization on my back, so I have to protect it with my life.” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article Quote
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