Bears Explore All Velus Jones' Strengths
Velus Jones Jr. gave a fascinating but somewhat exaggerated description of new Bears 6-foot-4, 225-pound wide receiver N'Keal Harry.
"Man, he's like a structure, like them Greek god structures," Jones said. "I would say like a Hercules.
"But all jokes aside, he's a baller."
So far at training camp, Jones has been fairly impressive himself, by beating second-round rookie cornerback Kyler Gordon a few times for deep touchdowns. Jones is giving early indication he could be the playmaker receiver the team thought they had when they drafted him in Round 3 despite the fact he's 25 years old.
"I knew coming in how good the DBs are—everybody's pros," Jones said. "We're here for a reason, but I also remind myself, I'm here for a reason also. So you know, never ever be starstruck. Just go out there and be yourself and give it your all, and that's all you can do."
If Jones is the No. 2 or 3 receiver, it could leave Harry down in the fourth or fifth spot. Jones, who is 6-foot, 203, has displayed the great 4.31-second 40-yard speed he had at Tennessee his senior year.
Coach Matt Eberflus had said he'd be moving players around the field at different positions, and it seemed at the time he meant on defense. However, Jones has been proof this works on both sides of the ball.
"They're moving me from Z (receiver), F, X, they want me to know everything," Jones said. "So it's been really fun getting to work with my QBs and stuff like that.
"But they know my abilities. They know the reason why they drafted me. I am really good with the ball in my hands. Wherever they need me to be, I'm just going to be there and execute."
It's part of the thinking behind putting him back on punt returns. While players like Chris Finke, Eddie Jackson and a few others split time fielding punts this week, Jones has had the bulk of the returns. In college, kick returns were more his thing but he did return them for Tennessee.
"I'm equally comfortable doing both," Jones said. "Last year was my first year doing punt return. Shout out to coach Ek (special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler) at Tennessee.
"But like, the difference between them, when it comes to punt, you've got to look at the tail of the ball. If it's going over, does it die, like dipping down? That means it's going to go shorter and come at an angle, depending on the foot of the punter. I feel like when it comes to punt return it's all about getting those reps, actually seeing those punts come off the foot. Just getting reps over and over and over. After that it's like second nature. So I'm really comfortable doing both. But then like kickoff the ball is really going in a straight line, just judge it. You want to catch that moving forward."
Handling kick and punt returns is more of a physical challenge. It's mastering the mental part of the game that the Bears need to see from Jones.
As a rookie, even at age 25, there are questions why he failed to crack 24 receptions until his senior year with Tennessee. He never developed at USC as a receiver and transfered after four years, but a family tragedy was involved in this decision to continue his college career elsewhere.
"When my grandfather, he had a stroke and was paralyzed from the neck down and man, going into that 2019 season I was thinking about leaving but I made a business decision staying for that 2019 season, got a degree from U.S.C. and so after that season I was like, it was time to come closer to home you know?" Jones said.
He had been a fan of the SEC and coach Jim Chaney had been an offensive coordinator at Georgia he respected. Also, USC receivers coach Tee Martin went to work for Chaney and it influenced Jones to leave, as well."
Figuring out the offense and running routes are common explanations for a receiver's troubles but Jones had no trouble at Tennessee his final year. Now he embraces that challenge with the Bears.
"I love the challenge," Jones said. "Even making a mistake, I really get at, once I make a mistake, not making the same mistake. I feel like those are the great ones. "That's the mindset I go in (with), not trying to be perfect, nobody is going to be perfect. But also trying to execute. And if it is a mental error, when we go back and watch the film, and I watch the film at night, it's the mindset of coming in the next day and don't make the same mistake twice."
Jones is enlisting pretty good help in working at his route running and the other mental parts of the game—Darnell Mooney.
"It's just being a sponge, soaking it all in," Jones said. "And also Equanimeous (St. Brown), he knows this offense really well, and he's always giving me tips, special reminders. I can't thank those guys enough. I'm just being a sponge and going out there and giving it my all."
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