Velus Jones Jr. Makes More Small Strides

On his 63-yard kick return Sunday against the Detroit Lions, Velus Jones Jr. saw his blockers working and felt a little bit like the Scarecrow, Lion, Tin Man, Dorothy, and Toto too.

"Everybody was on somebody," Jones said. "They were knocking people down. It was really like a yellow brick road. I was just skipping down the lanes.

"I really wanted that one, but, you know, at the end of the day, special teams, it's all about helping the offense and defense and putting them in a great position."

Jones couldn't go all the way mainly because he got hemmed in along the sideline and had to almost stop to keep from going out of bounds.

The return put the Bears in position for a possible three points at the half but they squandered it, like other limited opportunities in a 41-10 loss.

For Jones, the longest kick return of his season was another step in an upward climb after his struggles fielding punts early in the season.

"I feel like I've been upward with my production, practice habits and stuff like that," Jones said. "Everything is trending in the right direction. Just continue to be me. Just stay mentally focused and locked in. And everything else will take care of itself. Just keep putting in extra work."

Now he's at 29.2 yards per kick return after breaking kicks 40 yards against the Bills, 42 against Green Bay, 55 against Atlanta and then Sunday's long one. Only Green Bay's Keisean Nixon (30.0) and the Colts' Dallis Flowers (33.0) have better averages among regular kick returner than Jones.

"I've been returning kickoff returns since, like, park (district) ball," Jones said. "So that's like God-given. To do it on this level, I'm really proud of myself. Shout out to my blockers. It wouldn't be possible to have these kickoff returns without them.

"It most definitely feels good, I feel like, (it's) getting back to the person and player I was in college."

He hasn't reached a higher level yet as a receiver. The 63-yard return came a week after he had a career-long 44-yard reception, so he has made an impact later in the year.

There's plenty of competition for targets or touches in a large receiver group that has been largely unproductive.

On Sunday Jones had just five offensive plays, one target and no catches. As a group, receivers made only three catches on 10 targets. Jones did get off a 13-yard gain on an end-around.

"I feel like I'm thankful for the game-time experience going against these pro DBs," Jones said. "I feel like definitely you got to watch film. But at the end of the day, it's all about what you do."

No doubt Jones expected more on offense than 149 plays, 12 targets, six catches and 79 yards heading into the final game. He also had eight runs for 61 yards.

He's looking to make offseason strides and arrive at OTAs in the spring well ahead of where he started this season.

"I know the playbook now, so next year I'll come in really comfortable," Jones said. "I missed most of the preseason, three games at the beginning of the year (hamstring), and so I had to get in the groove. I had been out for so long and wasn't able to practice.

"So, you know, next year, you know, taking the right approach, taking care of my body better, knowing my body, knowing how to practice, and so definitely looking forward to next year's camp, OTAs, camp, preseason."

Jones even gets limited on kick returns. Sunday he had only one return because he's under orders only to return those with less hang time unless he's green-lighted ahead of time. He was on the long return against the Lions.

"I feel like that's a trust thing," he said. "I'm also a rookie so you know I'm just being doing what I'm told to do, being coachable and whatever they tell me to do, I'm gonna do that.

"Hopefully, you know, when Year 2 rolls around I'll get that green light."

A green light to the yellow brick road he felt he was on Sunday.

TICKETS TO SEE JUSTIN FIELDS AND THE BEARS AVAILABLE THROUGH SI TICKETS

BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

Add us as a preferred source on Google