BOURBONNAIS, Ill. — Bears wide receiver Devin Hester is a changed man.
After voicing frustration last season with his inability to break punt or kickoff return touchdowns while learning to be a wide receiver, Hester this year is going to focus on being a better receiver.
Last year, he gradually learned the receiving game and finished with 51 catches. Eventually, Danieal Manning replaced him returning kickoffs the last four games and has gone on to post the highest career kick return average among active NFL players with at least 40 returns (28.8 yards per return).
“I’m not doing any kickoff returns this year — none,” Hester said Friday. “That’s going to be all Danieal.”
Special-teams coordinator Dave Toub hasn’t discounted Hester in a complete emergency on kickoffs, but Rashied Davis, Garrett Wolfe and rookie Johnny Knox have also practiced returning kickoffs.
Chiefs sign Jackson
RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The Chiefs signed defensive end Tyson Jackson, the team’s first-round draft pick, to five-year contract worth about $57 million, with $31 million guaranteed.
Jackson, the third overall pick from LSU, is expected to help an anemic Chiefs pass rush that set the all-time NFL record for fewest sacks with 10 last season. Jackson had 18 1/2 sacks and 122 tackles in 53 games at LSU.
Roethlisberger gets more time
RENO, Nev. — The lawyer for the woman suing Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for alleged sexual assault has given the two-time Super Bowl winner more time to respond to the lawsuit.
Reno attorney Cal Dunlap said Roethlisberger’s attorneys now have until Aug. 21 to file their response.
The woman, who worked as an executive VIP casino host at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, claims Roethlisberger lured her to his hotel room under false pretenses and raped her during a celebrity golf tournament last summer. She’s seeking a minimum of $490,000 plus punitive damages.
• Steelers right guard Darnell Stapleton had surgery on his left knee and will be out at least two weeks.
Court date set for Burress
NEW YORK — An Aug. 20 arraignment date was set for former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress on a weapons charge stemming from the Nov. 29 incident in which he shot himself in the thigh with an unlicensed gun at a New York City nightclub. Monday, Burress was indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. If convicted on the weapons charge, Burress faces a minimum prison sentence of 3 1/2 years and a maximum of 15 years.
Footnotes.
Seahawks center Chris Spencer left practice because of an injured left ankle, an injury coach Jim Mora said “doesn’t appear to be anything serious.”
• Lions backup offensive tackle Damion Cook will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a triceps injury.
• Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson (left knee) came up gimpy after planting his leg in the pocket and said he “felt something very uncomfortable. . . . But after I walked to the sideline it was pretty much OK. It’s fine.”
• Colts first-round draft pick Donald Brown, taken 27th overall out of Connecticut, missed practice because of general soreness, and fellow rookie running back Mike Hart did not finish practice after rolling his right ankle. Denver Post wire services
