Donovan Peoples-Jones keeps his balance, flips game on punt return TD

On Dec 5, 2022

HOUSTON – It had been a long time since the Browns returned a punt for a touchdown. Sept. 20, 2015, to be exact.

Travis Benjamin took a punt 78 yards to the end zone for a touchdown against Tennessee that day. At the same time, Donovan Peoples-Jones was still just a junior at Case Tech High School in Detroit.

Peoples-Jones was, on Sunday, in his third season in the NFL when he finally replaced Benjamin as the last Browns player to return a punt for a score. It was his 76-yard return with 3:41 remaining in the second quarter that provided Cleveland with the lead for good in a 27-14 win over the Houston Texans.

“It’s super fun, something that I pride in doing a good job in,” said Peoples-Jones, whose return gave the Browns a 7-5 lead. “So to get a touchdown in that is amazing.”

It also almost didn’t happen. What was a game-changing return may have ended up only being a really nice one.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones (11) celebrates after scoring a touchdown on a 76-yard punt return during the first half of an NFL football game between the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans in Houston, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022,. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Why? Let Peoples-Jones explain for himself.

“I almost tripped,” he said. “I almost tripped a little bit. I was happy that I regained my balance though.”

That trip occurred about 15 yards into the return. About 15 yards would’ve been, at that point, almost five yards longer than his season average of 10.7 yards coming into the game.

Peoples-Jones, though, didn’t fall down at that point. Instead, he managed to keep his balance, which essentially turned everything else from that point on into a footrace to the end zone.

“We’ve been working on that all week,” Peoples-Jones said. “Got to punt, caught the ball, had some great holes to run through. My teammates did a great job blocking, and I made a play.”

Dec 4, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; Cleveland Browns special teams player Donovan Peoples-Jones (11) breaks the tackle of Houston Texans linebacker Garret Wallow (32) and returns a punt for a touchdown in the second quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

It was only the second punt return for a score in the NFL this season. The other one came on Nov. 20, when New England’s Marcus Jones scored on an 84-yard punt return with five seconds remaining to give the Patriots a win over the New York Jets.

Peoples-Jones’ return didn’t come in as dramatic a moment. To say it didn’t flip things, though, would undersell the way the game had gone to that point.

The Browns had, essentially, mounted one true offensive threat up until then — a drive that reached the Houston 11 before Deshaun Watson threw an interception in the end zone. So they were looking for a spark to light the fuse.

“That was crazy, everybody was excited about that,” receiver Amari Cooper said. “I told him after the touchdown, I thought when he stumbled that he was going to fall. He stayed up, I put my hand up because I knew it was a touchdown after that. That was cool. I’ve returned some punts in my career and I know it’s very hard to return punts in this league just because everybody is so fast and disciplined.

“So to see that, that was great. He probably earned himself a lot more money, and he don’t even know it yet. He earned himself a lot more money, special teams for sure.”

The last two weeks, that may be true for Peoples-Jones. His three returns for a 28.7-yard average on Sunday gave him eight returns for an average of 20.1 yards in the last two games.

For the season, Peoples-Jones has returned 13 punts for an average of 14.8 yards.

“He’s been outstanding, which shouldn’t surprise you with Donovan,” coach Kevin Stefanski said “He’s been close on a few, but he’s getting north-south and I thought that the whole team did a great job on that return to give him a seam and then on this turf, he was moving there.