Why DeAndre Carter is 'sick' over first punt return with Lions

ALLEN PARK — In his first game with the Detroit Lions , DeAndre Carter was almost gone. The team's new punt returner was a shoestring tackle away from having the chance to take the first punt return of his season debut against the Green Bay Packers to the house. Carter fielded the punt from his own 9-yard line, made the first man miss and tried to make another whiff at the 17-yard line as the blocking paved a massive opening that would have given Carter a realistic shot at going the distance. But when he emerged from the slim crease and advanced into the open field, he couldn't regain his balance after trying to avoid the second tackle and went down at the 24-yard line for a gain of 15. "I'm still sick about that one, I'm not gonna lie," Carter said at his locker on Wednesday, Oct. 29. "The dude made a great play, got my heel or my foot, tripped me up. But if he didn't make that play, that was a house call, for sure." Carter, 33, is playing for his eighth different team across nine NFL seasons. The Lions became his sixth team in as many years when Detroit was forced to find a replacement punt returner after Tom Kennedy had season-ending knee surgery . In Sunday's 20-17 win over the Packers at Ford Field, Carter had the one punt return plus two kick returns that went for an average of 26 yards with a long of 28, edging out Kennedy's 2026 season average (24.8), albeit in a small sample size. "I thought he did a great job," Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said. "Obviously his first time out there...he didn't have to go out there and do anything incredible. The most important thing from a returner always starts with decision-making and taking care of the football. So, those two things right there, that was the goal number one for us." Carter and Fipp overlapped with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018, which helped Carter get his feet under him quickly after signing with Detroit following the bye week. "When I wasn't on a team, (I) made sure I stayed in shape, but I've been doing this a long time, man, and at the end of the day, football is football," Carter said. "And then also, we got a great support staff around here. … The familiarity with Fipp in his system, definitely something that helped me, and then we got a great unit. "We got a great unit that cares about special teams, and they go out there and they bust their ass and put a lot of effort into getting their block and making their block, and that makes my job easier." Entering his debut with Detroit, Carter had 299 kick and punt returns on his resume. He returned a kickoff for a touchdown with Washington in 2021, but is still looking for the first punt-return touchdown of his career. Judging by the fact that he nearly broke one in his debut, maybe that'll change this season. "I think it’s encouraging to myself and the unit that we’re very close, you know what I’m saying? And a little more – pick my feed up or a little more strain on my part — and that’s a big play, and we’ll get a couple of those this year for sure," Carter said. nbianchi@detroitnews.com @nolanbianchi