Punt returner remains up for the taking

While Maurice Hicks almost certainly will begin the season returning kicks for the Vikings, there remains uncertainty about who will be the primary punt return man. Receiver Aundrae Allison handled that role in Saturday's 12-10 preseason loss to Pittsburgh and ended up with minus-3 yards on two returns.

Rookie receiver Jaymar Johnson also has gotten a shot at the job, returning three punts for 51 yards. The auditions could continue Thursday when the Vikings play their preseason finale at Dallas.

"I'd like it to be a little bit more secure in who exactly is going to be doing the punt returning, but I think we've made progress in some of the things we are doing," special teams coordinator Paul Ferraro said Monday. "Maybe it hasn't shown up statistically, especially in the punt return game, but we've made progress up front in our blocking, both in kick return and punt return. I think we are in a good spot right now. We just have to settle on who's going to do it, and we still have some options. So we just have to play it out this weekend and see how it goes."

Asked about the candidates to return punts, Ferraro said:

"I know Aundrae Allison can do it. He's caught everything he's been asked to catch. We haven't given him a lot of opportunities from a blocking standpoint when he's been in there. [Charles] Gordon did it all through college at a high level [at Kansas], so I know Chuck can give us those repetitions, and we know what Bobby Wade and Bernard Berrian can do.

"So we have options. It's not like we don't have anyone. It's just we don't have a single guy right now that we can say will be taking all the reps. That's not a bad thing either, though. We've got plenty of options and we're going to use them as we go."

Wade returned 16 punts last season for 112 yards and called for 11 fair catches. Running back Mewelde Moore, now with Pittsburgh, returned 13 punts for 130 yards.

As for Berrian, it would be surprising to see him on punt returns, given that he has been bothered by a sore toe that also slowed him last year in Chicago.