Devin Hester has been released by the Atlanta Falcons.

Hester missed the first 11 games of the 2015 season as a result of a toe injury, for which he had surgery in January. 

Hester, a former second-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears, holds the NFL record for return touchdowns 20, a record he set with the Falcons against the Bears during the 2014 season.

It is unclear whether Hester will continue his career or retire.

The Atlanta Falcons want Devonta Freeman to carry the football less often this coming season.

They want to keep Freeman fresher and give Tevin Coleman more of a chance to contribute.

"It's about growth," running backs coach Bobby Turner said. "Free had a good year, but I'm expecting even a better year. Well, you're saying, how can it be better? It can be even better with less carries or less catches because I'd obviously like to get Tevin more involved and that also keeps Free fresher."

Freeman had 1,634 yards from scrimmage and 14 combined touchdowns last year.

"We want them competing," Turner said. "They are very similar. They both are competitive. They both can catch the football. They both have run instincts. When it comes down to it, the one difference is the flat out long speed of Tevin Coleman."

Roddy White believes his own limited role was the reason the Atlanta Falcons struggled last season.

White was cut earlier this offseason after 11 years with the Falcons. He had just 43 catches, 506 yards and a single touchdown in 2015.

"They had a role for me coming into the season, and I feel it wasn't told to me prior to the season," White said. "I'm completely fine if someone sits me down and says 'This is what we want you to do', but I didn't get fully where they were going with me. After that I sat down with (offensive coordinator) Kyle (Shanahan) and I thought things would change, and they didn't change."

White remains a free agent, but wants to play.

"Being released wasn't a bad thing for me, because I wasn't going to be on that team and accept the same role the following year, or then I would have self-destructed around there," he said. "I would have went crazy if I would have had to go through that another year. I can't play football like that, I was miserable.

"A lot of times we had opportunities to win games, and I wasn't put in that position to make that play, and I felt like we lost those games because I wasn't in put in that position to make that play. And I felt like if I was, then we would have been in the playoffs.

"That my side of the story."