Velus Jones Jr. is in danger of losing his job in Week 2 after the Chicago Bears receiver muffed a kickoff return against the Tennessee Titans. The field position from Jones’ fumble gave the Titans an easy field goal attempt.
After the game, Jones told Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune that he can get “lackadaisical” returning kicks:
“I just took my eyes off the ball,” Jones said. “I’ve caught that ball like a million times. So it’s like sometimes you can get lackadaisical. Then, I didn’t realize when I looked for it, I actually kicked it. So, that was just an unfortunate thing. Never happened to me before. It’s the small details. Just gotta go back to square one, just looking everything in.”
Last week, special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said he advocated for the Bears to keep Jones on the 53-man roster this season because he’s an “uber” talented athlete.
Hightower changed his tone a bit on Jones during his press conference this week.
Velus Jones Jr. made an unacceptable play
Per Dan Wiederer with the Chicago Tribune, Hightower called Jones’ fumble “unacceptable” and said the staff is evaluating making a change on the depth chart for kickoff return:
“As a human, I hurt for the kid. I do. But as a coach we have to evaluate all our options. And he knows in the return game, the No. 1 thing is to take care of the football.”
The Chicago Bears aren’t lackadaisical about valuing the football
Per Courtney Cronin with ESPN, Hightower made a statement about the muffed return that appears to be a harsh response to Jones’ “lackadaisical” comment. He said the Bears “value” the ball, whereas Jones did not on the fumble:
“[The Bears] value the ball and on that particular play we didn’t and it hurt the football team,” Hightower said.
The Bears replaced Jones with DeAndre Carter for kickoff returns against the Titans following the fumble. Carter was used as the primary punt returner in Week 1. Carter would return one kickoff for 66 yards.
The Bears could shake up kickoff return duties this week
Hightower said he’d be okay with Carter handling kickoff return duties against the Houston Texans on Sunday night.
“I’m totally comfortable with DeAndre doing such,” Hightower said. “That’s why he did it to finish the [Titans] game.”
The Bears will have multiple options for Sunday night’s game. Rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze’s injury will likely open up Tyler Scott’s availability against the Texans. Scott was a healthy scratch in Week 1.
The Bears used running back Khalil Herbert and Carter as their kickoff returners against the Titans after Jones was pulled from that duty (Jones received a few snaps at running back). The Bears could use Carter and Scott as their kickoff returners against the Texans.
Scott was used as a kickoff returner in the preseason.
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