A Bears Group Improvement Effort

Several coaches joined forces to help Bears wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. field punts better.

The Bears punt return situation hasn't yet become to Matt Eberflus' coaching regime what the place-kicking situation was to Matt Nagy.

Still, it was a source of aggravation when Velus Jones Jr. muffed two critical punts last year and this training camp opened with his replacement as returner lsat year, Dante Pettis, on the non-football injury list.

Pettis is still unavailable and with the release of the team's preseason depth chart there is a familiar name back at the top of the punt return depth chart. It's Jones, of course.

"Velus has been growing," insisted special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. "He did a really nice job today. He did a great job the other day at fan fest.

"He's tracking the ball really well up to this point. He has been doing everything we ask him to do."He did it in college. And he did a nice job. He’s a big body. And he told me today during stretch, he said, ‘When you put me back there, now., everything just goes solid. I’m your guy. Put me back there (chuckles). I like his confidence. I like his confidence. He’s a big corner. He has good hands and he has good speed. So he’s been really impressive. I’m really excited about that kid and his future.

Hightower believes Jones improved at the basics of fielding punts, something he had done only 18 times in college before coming to the Bears.

"I've seen him get to the spot," Hightower said. "One thing with coaches, you've heard coach say this before and some of the other guys as well—I've seen him get to the spot quicker and more efficiently than I've ever seen him do. And he just looks more relaxed when the ball is coming down.

"I think that's just a testament to him reading nose-up or nose-down like when the ball's in the air. And then it's also, he's tracking it better off of the foot."

It's been a real group effort trying to help Jones build confidence while fielding punts. They've even listed help from coach Matt Eberflus.

"So I think coach Young, Omar Young, (receivers coach) Tyke Tolbert, even coach Flus is back there," Hightower said. "All those guys have been back there and it takes a village to raise a child."

Jones will get the chance to show this in game conditions at Soldier Field Saturday at noon against Tennessee in the preseason opener. He won't be alone, though.

"We'll put guys out there, and then we'll try to get as many guys an opportunity as we can," Hightower said. "If we feel like a guy went out and had a great opportunity and we saw enough on that rep, then we'll pull him out and put the next guy in."

It's a process like they used at Sunday's Family Fest at Soldier Field.

"We got five different returners to catch a punt," Hightower said. "Now, I don't know if it'll go that way in a game, but we wanted to get all those kids there in the stadium and feel the wind and all that stuff. It was good to get five different guys out there during that. It'll be something like that."

This included the first-ever return efforts for the Bears of cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. His participation proved a surprise because he hadn't been practicing those earlier in camp.

"He did it in college and he did a nice job," Hightower said.

Stevenson returned 12 college punts for an excellent 11.1-yard average. He had 10 for a 9.6-yard average at Miami and just two for 37 total yards at Georgia in his first two years.

"He's a big body, and he told me today during stretch, he said, 'When you put me back there, now, everything just goes solid. I'm your guy. Put me back there.' "

Hightower enjoyed a bit a of a laugh at that.

"I like his confidence. I like his confidence," he said. "He's a big corner. He has good hands and he has good speed. So he's been really impressive. I'm really excited about that kid and his future."

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