The Green Bay Packers’ special teams are at it again, being anything but special. Whether it be the blocking unit on field goals and extra points—both of which have cost them a game—or the punt and kick coverage units, which have repeatedly resulted in poor field position for the offense and defense, the issues are piling up. My biggest bone of contention so far has been the lack of a competent answer at both returner positions. The Packers have been trotting out some less-than-experienced players to return punts, and if they don’t firm up a real solution, my fear is it’s going to come back to bite them. However, if you go by head coach Matt LaFleur’s comments, it doesn’t seem that’s going to be the case.

The primary returners through the first four weeks of this season have been rookie wide receivers Savion Williams and Matthew Golden. Neither has done anything to inspire the level of confidence that LaFleur seems to have in them. Williams has primarily been handling kick returns for the Packers, while Golden has been lining up on punts. On 10 attempts as a kick returner, Williams has broken the 30-yard line only once without the play being flagged. For context, the 30-yard line is generally considered the average starting point for a kick return. He has 171 total yards and is averaging 24.4 yards per return. The league average so far in 2025 is 27.1 yards. Williams has fallen short of what is considered an average returner in his short career.

Beyond the lack of explosiveness, his youth and inexperience as a returner have really been exposed. Against the Cowboys this past Sunday, kicker Brandon Aubrey booted three balls short of the end zone. Each time, Williams took a knee for a touchback to the 20-yard line. While it’s widely known that Aubrey was a professional soccer player and puts a different spin on kickoffs than most NFL kickers, taking a knee and losing that much yardage is still inexcusable. Matt LaFleur described it as the equivalent of losing at least 10 yards of field position. “We got to field those. We have got to make every attempt at least to catch those in the air,” he said postgame. While that wasn’t necessarily the reason they went on to tie this particular game, those are the types of mistakes that can come back to bite them against a better opponent.

When looking at punt returns, Matthew Golden looks every bit as unsure of himself as Williams. On 13 total punt return attempts where Golden could have caught the ball on the fly, he caught only five. His mode of operation has been to let it bounce once before catching it and heading upfield. Whether he does that to buy an extra second to assess what’s in front of him or because he doesn’t feel comfortable taking his eyes off defenders running full speed, that remains unknown. What is known is that the Packers don’t fully trust Golden late in games when all they want is someone to secure the ball. He has been replaced by Romeo Doubs this past Sunday and by Keisean Nixon in previous games. That’s not a good look when your main punt returner needs to be replaced for ball security purposes. Golden was always an interesting choice since he hasn’t returned kicks since high school. He didn’t record a single return during his college career at Houston or Texas. The Packers were likely banking on his speed being a bigger factor than it has been.

So what options do the Packers have to improve? The aforementioned Romeo Doubs and Keisean Nixon are two clear options. Doubs isn’t going to give you much in the speed category and isn’t as likely to break a big return, but he arguably has the most reliable hands on the team, and ball security wouldn’t be a major concern. He does have experience returning punts and even has an 80-yard touchdown return from his freshman year back in 2018. The concern is injury risk. Doubs has clearly taken over the WR1 role in 2025 and is Jordan Love’s security blanket. Exposing him to extra hits might not be worth it, especially considering his concussion history.

For kick returns, the answer is much simpler. The Packers have a former two-time first-team All-Pro kick returner at their disposal. Nixon made it clear this offseason that he wasn’t interested in returning kicks anymore and wanted to focus on becoming the team’s No. 1 corner. The reality is there just aren’t enough reps in a game to hold someone as good as Nixon is on the bench. Not only have the Packers not returned a kick for a touchdown since Nixon did it on New Year’s Day against the Vikings in 2023—it feels like they haven’t even come close since.

If they truly don’t feel comfortable putting one of their most important defensive players out there for extra hits, there is another option. The team recently parted ways with veteran wide receiver and returner Mecole Hardman when they released him from the practice squad last week. Odds are if they felt comfortable releasing him, then he wasn’t showing much on the practice field and they didn’t think he could contribute. But he certainly would be an upgrade over Golden and Williams. Hardman even received the bulk of the summer reps ahead of the rookies. If a few more games go by with similar results and Hardman remains a free agent, perhaps a reunion is possible. That would be the best solution for both roles in one single signing. They could also look to Bo Melton, who has lined up on kicks, or running back MarShawn Lloyd when he returns from injury—but neither has an extensive résumé of success in that role.

As mentioned earlier, if you listen to Matt LaFleur, no change is on the horizon. At his Tuesday press conference, he stated that his young returners “give us the best chance to be successful.” His reasoning seems tied to their practice performance. When pressed, he said: “You got to get experience one way or the other. They do a great job in practice. I get it, the game’s a little bit different than practice, especially when you’re catching kicks because in practice nobody’s going to blow you up.” Both Williams and Golden do appear timid and afraid of making a mistake or taking a big hit. On a team with Super Bowl aspirations, rookies learning on the job at two important positions isn’t the answer.