Bear Digest

Velus Jones' Skill Set Fits Change Bears Made But Can He Pull It Off?

Velus Jones Jr. has actually been a running back in the distant past so letting him try it again isn't such a great leap, but the blocking and other aspects are different at this level.

Gene Chamberlain

Velus Jones Jr. Welcomes Changing Role.mp4
Velus Jones Jr. Welcomes Changing Role.mp4 /
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It's been a week of work and when he's not talking about his late pet ferret for the amusement of media, Velus Jones Jr. has undergone quite the metamorphosis.

He discounts the difficulty a bit but it's not everyone who can go from being a wide receiver to a running back. He did have some early experience with it.

"Just getting a feel for everything," he said. "Obviously it’s different on this level. I played running back, that was my first position growing up in park league and I played a little my senior year.

"When I was an outside receiver, but teams clouded me a lot, so it was difficult to get me the ball. So (coach) Jeff Kelly just put me in the backfield and handed me the ball on a toss or a sweep out of the backfield from Jack West. But out here, honestly, working on my vision, seeing the gaps, seeing the holes, guards pulling, and my natural ability takes over, honestly."

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His start in the preseason win over Buffalo included tripping over his own feet in the open field on a run around end just when he seemed to have yardage ahead. However, he picked up the pace later in the game and scored a touchdown while averaging 5.6 yards a carry in a 34-yard effort. That included a 19-yard run and one run when he lowered his head and barreled in just like a good running back should in an attempt to squeeze out extra yards.

"I don't think it's that difficult, not trying to say running back's a difficult thing, but with our offensive line and our receivers, they're so good at blocking, mixed with my God-given strength, speed and talent, it's pretty hard for something not positive to come out of it," Jones said.

He also had some experience the last two years carrying the ball outside of the passing game, because former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy let him carry on an occasional jet sweep or end around. Apparently he's better at it now than in college. He had 15 rushing attempts in college and averaged only 3.9 yards. With the Bears he has averaged 9.1 yards on 17 rushing attempts.

"Just getting the ball in my hands so quick (on those), I'm able to read blocks," Jones said.

However, there is more to running back than carrying the ball and Jones is the first to admit the whole idea of blocking in the backfield for his quarterback is a new concept.

"There's more than just running the ball," he said. "Protections, having your eyes in the right spot to protect your quarterback, just knowing certain runs and why you're running the way you're running, do you have the balance, do you hit the A-gap, the B-gap, and just getting a full understanding.

"You know, making blocks good. Do I need to extend the run and then make a cut off the guard pulling or whoever is pulling for me. Most definitely. Also, you know, keeping my eyes up and seeing the whole thing. And so I got some reps after practice and so yeah, it's going to continue to get better each and every day."

The part about blocking includes handling the blitz.

"It's really different," he said. "When you've got certain looks, teams can bring a crazy blitz to anywhere. They might have a safety, he might come down from 10 yards off and run down full speed.

"I feel like film will help that out a lot and the coaches have been doing a great job of helping me understand everything."

For Jones, it could represent a way to stay with the team, although no one has expressly stated his job is at stake. Still, in two years he has only 11 catches for 127 yards. His kick returning has been valuable but this could change with the new rules unless he does a better job of fielding kicks than he did in the second preseason game. He muffed a kickoff and then got on top of it.

Adding the run threat could turn him into a versatile weapon that an offense based on multiplicity can use. In the second episode of Hard Knocks, Jones is being compared to Percy Harvin. The former Seahawks-Viking-Jets-Bills player did basically what Jones is doing now as a receiver-running back-returner. Jones is almost the same size as Harvin, an inch taller at 6-foot but the same weight at 200 pounds. He runs faster at 4.31 seconds in the 40 to the 4.41 Harvin ran.

"This is big when coach and my OC (Shane Waldron), he came to talk to me and I've looked at it as a great opportunity," Jones said. "I'm really familiar with it and I know my God-given talent and abilities and this is something I can be really good at and be there for them when they need me.

"Every game is a big game and so that just shows they're trying to find any way that they can just to get the ball in my hands and utilize my talent so that's a great feeling."

The experiement continues this week, and for one more game after that. Then decision time comes.

It's either one more way for the Bears to beat someone or one other straw for Jones to grasp onto to avoid falling off the roster. Or it could be both.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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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.