Despite some indecisive plays, Davone Bess will remain as the Hawai'i football team's punt returner.

Asked if there would be any changes for Saturday's game against Utah State, head coach June Jones said: "Davone will do it."

Bess has shown glimpses of justifying Jones' claim that he is the Warriors' best punt returner. The thing is, Bess has avoided more punts than he has fielded this season.

Of the 26 punts in which he was the returner, 12 were downed and three landed out of bounds. Bess has four fair catches. Of his seven returns, two were muffed for an aggregate 1-yard gain.

"I'm thankful (Jones has) been with me," Bess said. "It's been rough. I'm going to get it done."

Discounting the two muffs, Bess is averaging 12.8 yards per punt return, reducing opponents' net average to 27.8 yards per punt.

The net-punt average is 45.5 yards when he allows the football to bounce and 41.3 yards when he makes a fair catch.

Bess blames "misjudgment" on not fielding more punts.

"He hasn't been back there a lot," said Jones, who did not allow the junior to return punts full-time until this season. "That's what happens. The more he does it, the better he gets."

But Jones said Bess does not have to prove he can do the job.

"To me, he's already done that," Jones said. "I know what he can do."

Bess said he has received more repetitions in practice.

"Hopefully, that will help," he said. "It's a matter of settling down, not taking punts for granted. I have to take advantage of the opportunity given to me."

Jones said: "The No. 1 thing is to catch the ball, give the offense an opportunity to take over."

KEEN ON KEENAN

Cornerback Keenan Jones and slotback Michael Washington will be the No. 1 kick returners for Saturday's game. Wideout Malcolm Lane, who suffered a jammed thumb yesterday, also is available.

Wideout Jason Rivers and cornerback Ryan Mouton were the kick returners. But Rivers missed 1 1/2 games because of lower-back tightness, and Mouton is suffering from a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Rivers will start Saturday; Mouton is expected to miss the next two games.

June Jones said Keenan Jones is deserving of a chance.

"He's practiced really hard, and he's athletic as heck," June Jones said.

Keenan Jones said: "I'm ready for whatever coach has in store for me."

Keenan Jones is completing a comeback from last March, when he was suspended from spring practice and stripped of his scholarship for missing mandatory team functions.

But he is doing well in school, and he has ascended to No. 2 right cornerback. He has been told his scholarship might be reinstated in January.

"I have to keep working, not only on the field, but off the field," Keenan Jones said.

He said he has worked intensively on kick returns the past few weeks.

"You've got to be focused," he said. "You have to make sure you catch the ball, you know where your blockers are, and basically do your assignments," he said. "As long as you do what the coaches tell you, you can't do wrong."

LAFAELE HAS STRAIN

Defensive right tackle Michael Lafaele said he has been diagnosed with a strain in his right hamstring. He said he will play this week.

Lafaele has been suffering from soreness in his right knee since being chop-blocked against Idaho. An MRI scan did not show any significant knee injury.

The hamstring leads to the knee's posterior, and the strain was the likely source of the soreness.

"I'm all right," said Lafaele, who has not missed a game despite a fracture in his right hand. "It's nothing serious."

The coaches had suspected otherwise, and Lafaele was told to leave yesterday's practice to undergo the MRI.

"He looked like he was favoring it a little bit, and I didn't want to take any chances," defensive coordinator Greg McMackin said. "I asked June to send him in. We have to take care of him. I asked the trainers if we can get an MRI so we won't take any chances. I'm not concerned at all. It's a precautionary deal."

Jones said: "He'll play."

GRICE-MULLINS BRUISED

There was an anxious moment when slotback Ryan Grice-Mullins and cornerback Jakeem Hawkins collided during a pass play. Grice-Mullins was on the ground, favoring his left thigh. He received treatment on the field and then on the sideline.

"I'm fine," Grice-Mullins said later. "It's just a little bruise."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.