Bears Coach Is Pissed At Team For Cutting Velus Jones

The Chicago Bears did some housecleaning last week when they cut two players who'd been part of the roster over the past couple of seasons. One was fullback Khari Blasingame, and the other was Velus Jones. The team had done everything possible to turn the former 3rd round pick into a viable weapon. He was a great kick returner as a rookie but seemed to lose steam in the past two years. The real problems surfaced on offense, where he couldn't gain any traction as a wide receiver, largely due to the constant dropping of the football.

Things were at a crossroads this past summer. Rather than cut bait, the Bears decided to try one more thing. They moved Jones to running back. He had a standout performance in the preseason and managed to make the roster. It looked like he'd found a home. Then he muffed a kickoff in the opener, was benched, and never saw the field again. Running backs coach Chad Morton is still upset about that, and he didn't mind saying so to CHGO.

“It’s extremely hard. I’m still frustrated over it,” Morton told CHGO Thursday. “But I understand the business side of it.”

“He’s always been one of my favorites, just as a person too, as a human,” Morton said. “I’m very excited for him over there. I think he can help. I think he can play a big role for anybody in this league.”

Asked if he was “frustrated” by the decision to let Jones go or just by the failure to see it work out with the Bears, Morton said: “Really both. Just that he’s not on our team. That we didn’t get a chance to develop him. It was obviously disappointing that he wasn’t active and we weren’t able to give him those opportunities.”

Velus Jones has nobody but himself to blame.

Few players get as many chances as he did from the Bears. After his string of brutal mistakes through the first two years, most fans wanted him gone. However, GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus wanted to make it work. Velus Jones put in so much work shifting to running back and seemed natural at it. Everything was going fine. That muffed kickoff was the final straw. It nearly cost the Bears another game. They could not, in good conscience, let that keep happening. Just like that, his opportunity was gone. It is understandable that Morton may not like it, but it had to happen. Giving Jones constant opportunities while holding back others who might actually help the team would've eventually led to tension in the locker room.