Da'Rel Scott is itching to give what Tom Coughlin hasn't seen in the last four years – a spark from the kick return department.
Sixty-four games. That's the length of the drought – including five postseason contests – that the Giants currently find themselves in. It has been nearly four years since Domenik Hixon's 74-yarder against the New England Patriots on Dec. 29, 2007.
It's about that time, says Scott.
"That's what I'm saying," he said. "I got tripped up [last week], but we'll make it happen. We have to make it happen. It's coming very soon."
Sunday will be the fourth game since Scott assumed the return role from Devin Thomas, who was averaging 23.7 yards with a long of 40. Beginning with San Francisco, Scott has returned kicks at a 25.4-yard clip on nine returns with three more than 30 yards.
All parties agree he came dangerously close to breaking (at least) one against the Saints on Monday night.
Late in the second quarter, Scott returned one for 30 yards and followed that up with a 38-yarder to begin the second half. It was the longest so far for the rookie.
"It's about time all three phases played together," Coughlin said in his weekly interview with Giants.com's Michael Eisen. "And special teams had a chance. We had a kickoff return that should have been a touchdown. We had a blocker on the safety, and the safety made the play. It begs of 'play to the whistle, play the play to the completeness of the play, finish the play.'"
Fullback and special teamer Henry Hynoski saw it, too.
"We had two or three that almost broke," he said. "So it's right there. It's a couple guys just slipping off at the last second. All we have to do is maintain our blocks just a tiny bit longer and it could have gone for 106."
The Green Bay Packers pose a roadblock this week with their somewhat unique practice of "twisting," meaning their coverage team tends to switch lanes instead of maintaining.
"They'll twist guys just to confuse you on your blocking," Tyler Sash said. "You get your pre-snap or pre-kick read on who you're going to block and then you run back and you usually block that guy. But not [the Packers]. They're twisting everybody here and there. So they just try to confuse you."
Sash said they have faced similar schemes, but the Packers do it the most often. Green Bay gives up an average of 24.3 yards per return, good for 20th in the NFL, with a long of 57. But keep in mind the Packers' No. 1 offense has resulted in 40 attempts for the opposition, which is second behind the Patriots (43).
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