New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints: Tommylee Lewis to bring "Juice" to kicking game

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

“Tommylee the Flea” as Saints wide receiver and return man Tommylee Lewis is known, is about to bring some excitement to the Saints’ kick return game.

In a conference call with the media on Thursday, October 20, Saints Head Coach Sean Payton addressed a question about the team’s stagnant kick return game. With Marcus Murphy not performing in Week 1 the Black and Gold turned to veteran running back Travaris Cadet. He hasn’t gotten much done either, typically taking a knee in the end zone.

Following a couple of standout punt returns against the Falcons and Panthers, the latter in which he had a return of 59 yards, the Saints are ready to give the diminutive rookie, Lewis, a shot at kickoff returns.

In the conference call Sean Payton said, “Sometimes you get juice from a different player and all of a sudden you get a different kind of return.”

That “juice” is Tommylee’s knack for making opposing teams’ players miss. He’s simply electric in the open field when he gets a chance. It’s something you’d notice if you looked at what he did when with Northern Illinois in his college days, lighting up the field with his speed and athleticism.

He learned a valuable lesson on his 59 yard return against the Panthers last Sunday. Seemingly touched by Carolina punter Andy Lee when he went down, Lewis was later told by an official that he hadn’t been touched and could have gotten up and kept running, most likely for a touchdown.

Lesson learned.

As he grows accustomed to the NFL game this is the kind of mistake he’s not likely to repeat in the future. For now Who Dat Nation can expect the juice to start to flow with which we hope will be a breakout against the Kansas City Chiefs. Saints’ Fans may be in for a treat Sunday.