I am not debating the rule. I am not claiming the rule was not violated. It was a penalty by the rule as defined. However, there are degrees of severity all under the umbrella of the exact same rule. Let's look at 3:

1. The returner is physically touched or hit before the ball arrives.

2. The returner is not hit but the defender is so close that it is physically not possible to make the catch.

3. The defender does not touch the returner or impede the catch, but is too close by the definition of the rule.

You cannot blame the returner for dropping the punt in cases 1 and 2. Case 3 is more borderline. You actually see case 3 happen a lot with no flag thrown unless the returner drops the punt. As a punt returner it's your job to be able to field the punt and not hear footsteps. Especially with a fair catch. Milne now has two drops in 5 games. He won the game for us Friday. He's an incredible player. I'm not sure if he's our best option at punt returner (although I don't know as much as the coaches on relative abilities).

The defender was to the right of Milne, not in front of him. I've watched the replay multiple times. He needs to make that catch.

https://imgur.com/gallery/TvQF9bT