B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 162; Flight Crew Total 6650; Flight Crew Type 1070
Communication Breakdown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution
Aircraft; Human Factors
All was uneventful until we were cleared for takeoff. Once we started our takeoff roll I asked my First Officer to set thrust to 89.2. As we started to quickly accelerate and got to about 100 kts I noticed that the airspeed alive and 80 kts was not called out. I then said 80kts as if to [ask] 'where is the 80 kts callout?' As we kept accelerating I heard him say airspeed and while being the pilot flying and at the rate of speed we was going; I glanced at my airspeed and saw we were getting to V1 and VR. I then thought I heard airspeed again and while trying to figure out what he meant by saying that and glancing at my airspeed indicator we were at Vr so I rotated and took off. After being airborne my First Officer said his airspeed indicator was not working and that's what he was trying to tell me. After now completely seeing what had happened and knowing what the situation was; I said we need to return to the airport. We notified ATC to return and ran all of the appropriate checklists and returned to the airport. We did not declare an emergency and everything besides the airspeed indicator not working was uneventful all the way back to the gate. I think the cause of the problem my FO (First Officer) [was] that I just didn't hear him because of him being soft spoken. I did not hear him and when I did I hear airspeed I wasn't too sure what he meant by saying that only. So [I] think a way to fix this and not have it happen again is to make it clear [that] as the non-flying pilot if something is wrong to make sure that it is brought to attention ASAP; made very clear and made sure to the pilot flying that something is not right and that it is understood that something is not right and that both pilots know this so action can be taken ASAP to prevent becoming airborne.
B737 Captain reported returning to departure airport after loss of First Officer's airspeed indicator.