Per the final episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” the Chicago Bears were not willing to part with Velus Jones Jr. for anything less than a fourth-round pick. General manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus believe the 2022 third-round has the type of speed that can change games.
Their faith in Jones was rewarded with a kickoff return muff that gave the Tennessee Titans the ball at the Chicago 23-yard line up 7-0 in the first quarter. The Titans would score a field goal to make the game 10-0, but the mistake could have been more costly against a better team.
Velus Jones Jr. can lack enthusiasm in returning kicks
According to Brad Biggs with the Chicago Tribune, Jones said after the game that he can get lackadaisical returning kicks because he’s caught the ball so many times:
“I just took my eyes off the ball,” Jones said. “I’ve caught that ball like a million times. So it’s like sometimes you can get lackadaisical. Then, I didn’t realize when I looked for it, I actually kicked it. So, that was just an unfortunate thing. Never happened to me before. It’s the small details. Just gotta go back to square one, just looking everything in.”
Jones said he was upset about the play but had to move on. The Bears took Jones off kickoff return duty for the rest of the game. Jones’ substitute, DeAndre Carter, had a 66-yard kick return later in the game.
Jones said he was just happy the Bears won the game.
Jones isn’t worried about the Chicago Bears benching him
Per Biggs, Jones said he’s not worried about being benched for kickoff return duties:
“It’s no concern,” he said when I asked about potentially being benched on kickoff returns. “Obviously, I am a competitor. I know what I bring to the table and like I said, that was unfortunate. I know the staff believes in me. They’ve seen me return how many kicks? Really, ain’t much to say about that. Definitely that can’t happen.”
While the Bears took Jones out of the game for kickoff return, he did return to play offense as a running back. He finished with 11 yards on two carries.
Matt Eberflus was “proud” of Jones
Eberflus said after the game that he was “proud” of how Jones handled his composure after the muff.
“I was proud of Velus,” Eberflus said. “I really was. I know that wasn’t what he wanted obviously. He did a nice job coming in at the halfback position and did a nice job getting north. I thought he did well. We’ll evaluate in terms of kick return as we go.”
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