Bear Digest

Bears Looking Closely at Velus Jones Jr. as Running Back

Coach Matt Eberflus plans to examine closely the use of third-year wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. at tailback during this week's practices with an eye on a possible gadget series for the offense.

Gene Chamberlain

Velus Jones Jr. tries to haul in a pass and get his feet in along the sidelines against Arizona last season.
Velus Jones Jr. tries to haul in a pass and get his feet in along the sidelines against Arizona last season. / Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
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Tuesday might be HBO Hard Knocks Day at Halas Hall because the behind-the-scenes series begins but it's actually Velus Jones Jr. week.

Whether this means it's the turnover-plagued wide receiver's last chance to prove himself or just a chance for offensive coordinator Shane Waldron to look at a potential gadget for the offense is known only to Bears coach Matt Eberflus and assistant coaches.

Jones is being used at halfback in this "block" or "stack" of practices, as Eberflus refers to them. This would be Tuesday through Thursday.

It sounds as if they'd like to determine if he can do what Cordarrelle Patterson did the last few seasons with Atlanta after he left the Bears.

"That's a thing we're going to do during this block," Eberflus said. "He was welcome to that and we feel that because of the versatility of the talent and the skill sets, that he offers our offense another way to have a weapon back there."

Their 2022 third-round draft pick is 6-foot, 200 pounds and ran 4.31 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He also hasn't really found a niche beyond returning kickoffs unless dropping passes while he's sitting in the end zone counts.

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Jones did get a look by former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy last year in a few games as the tailback in some offensive packages. He has 11 catches in two seasons for 127 yards and one touchdown, but has run for 154 yards on 17 carries, a substantial 9.1-yard average. He has one rushing TD.

"Again, hopefully that grows into something and again that's Shane and the offensive staff just being creative being able to maximize our talents on our roster," Eberflus said. "So it's good to see him back there."

Eberflus reiterated they were only looking at this for this section of practices prior to the Buffalo game.

"It's for the block and then we'll re-evaluate where it is," he said. "Again, like I said, he's got a lot of talent. He's open to moving around.

"Again, like we talked about, I think it was maybe last time we visited about, you know, if you're on the fringe of the roster or a guy that is competing for that fifth, sixth spot at receiver, halfback, whatever it might be, the more you can do. You know if you're a four-core guy in special teams, the more you can utilize your talents across your base of the team, I believe that's a good thing for you. So that's what he's doing."

Considering Jones' problems hanging onto the ball, it seems like it could be more like a last chance. Jones has three fumbles and two dropped passes in his two seasons. One of his drops came after he spun around and fell wide open in the end zone. He also had a key penalty on special teams coverage in the loss to New Orleans. As a rookie, he had key lost muffs on punt against the Giants and Commanders.

"Velus looks good with the ball in his hands," wide receiver Keenan Allen said. "He can make plays with his feet, so I think it's a good spot for him."

Allen dropped his bottle of water while saying this, which seemed like a bit of cosmic karma considering the topic of discussion.

Eberflus explained it as a chance for Jones to showcase what he can do.

The conspiracy theorists out there might say they're giving him one last chance to show he can more than return kicks, because they have some other potential kick returners like DeAndre Carter or Tyler Scott. Along the same lines, they could be looking at Jones' ability to handle some rushes if they're planning to trade away Khalil Herbert.

Or, it all could be just as the Bears coach said and they're trying to figure out uses for a good athlete who hasn't find a purpose. Considering the number of receivers they have who rate higher for better production, Jones might need to show this skill as a back.

Eberflus described what he wants from this extended look at Jones.

"Really, just execution and then show us your skill set," Eberflus aid. "We're putting you back there because you're fast, you're a bigger, stouter receiver that does a good job in the return game and you can utilize him in a bunch of different spots back there and it will be good to line up in different spots so really just the operation of that."

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.