Velus Jones Jr. Speeds Up as It All Slows Down
Needless to say, Velus Jones' season hasn't gone as he or Bears fans would have expected.
He's taking the approach one needs to have in such situations—he's looking at his next game as a chance to rectify it.
"Finish strong—that's my goal right now," Jones said. "Put my team in good position no matter if it's on special teams or offense. If the ball comes my way, make a play on it."
Jones is showing signs at least he can do this now in special teams. When he was muffing punts earlier he was the last player anyone wanted involved with fielding a kicked ball.
Their third-round draft pick has three receptions for 24 yards.
"I feel like week by week they trust me," Jones said. "I feel like wherever they need me to be I'm just going to do that to my best ability but at the end of the day it's making plays on the ball, blocking when you don't have the ball, doing your job."
However, Jones is coming off his best game with four kick returns for 114 yards, including a 42-yarder.
"He never really hung his head," Hightower said. "He always worked his tail off. He always competed. He just had a couple setbacks that you would prefer not to have but they were minor setbacks for major comebacks.
"Right now he's really helping our football team (on) kickoff return. And he's helping us in other areas. He plays gunner. I mean he plays on punt return. He plays on all phases. He plays on punt return as well (blocking). He's just not a returner. He's helping us in four different phases. He has a great attitude and he’s contributing."
Statistics don't reflect it but Jones says his understanding of the pro game is much better.
"I would say probably like midway in the season things started to slow down," Jones said. "Like, even though I'm a rookie you realize, like, you belong here. You're here for a reason.
No matter if you're going against a two-year, three-year guy or a five-year vet, you belong here too. Everybody that's playing in the league had to go through the same thing."
As a result, Jones says he is better for the criticism and the earlier failure on punt returns.
"The reason I feel that is it molded me and shaped me into the upcoming player I need to be," he said. "But I'm grateful, thankful. Things were bumpy but what's a career without it being bumpy. I'm grateful for everything."
Until there is a breakthrough as a receiver, it will leave some dissatisfied with Jones' selection in the third round.
"I want him to keep going the way," Hightower said. "He's going because he's helping our football team right now."
However, it might not be too long until Jones can contribute more at receiver.
"These last couple weeks, he has been owning it in the classroom, performing pretty good on the field for us, too," offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said. "We’re giving him more opportunities. It’s just seeing that ascending.
"We don’t need him to go be a superstar right now. We don’t need him to go be somebody he’s not. We just need him to be the best Velus he can be each and every day. As long as he’s getting better, we feel like he has a bright future. We just want to keep that going."
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
