Velus Jones Jr. on trade offer: ‘I don’t want to lose this place’

LAKE FOREST – Velus Jones Jr. is glad he’s still here.

On the season finale of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” this week, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles mentioned to head coach Matt Eberflus that he had received a call from another team asking about potentially trading for Jones.

Poles didn’t say who the team was or what the offer included in return for Jones, but he told Eberflus that he wouldn’t consider trading Jones for anything less than a fourth-round pick.

“I’m trying to draw the line of what I would do,” Poles said on the episode. “I would never go below a four [fourth-round pick]. The value, does it make sense on paper? That’s unbelievable value. Does it make sense for the Bears right now?”

The answer, in Poles’ mind, was no.

This week at Halas Hall, Jones said he learned about the trade offer from his agent.

“I’m still happy I’m a Chicago Bear,” Jones said. “I don’t want to lose this place. This place is special. Ryan and the staff, they believe in me, so I’m pretty excited for this year.”

I’m still happy I’m a Chicago Bear. I don’t want to lose this place. This place is special. Ryan and the staff, they believe in me, so I’m pretty excited for this year.”

—  Velus Jones Jr., Bears receiver/running back

The Bears kept Jones on the 53-man roster and have continued to view him as a weapon who can contribute in multiple ways. Poles’ praise for Jones on “Hard Knocks” speaks volumes.

Running backs coach Chad Morton also vouched strongly for Jones in a team meeting on the episode. Morton told Eberflus and Poles there was nobody at the running back position who he would vouch for more.

Later, in a private meeting with the player, Morton told Jones he was proud of the way that Jones picked up the running back position so quickly. In the preseason finale, Jones ran for 111 yards and a touchdown.

Morton is in his first year as the Bears running backs coach. He spent the previous 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, including as run game coordinator for Shane Waldron during the past two seasons. With D’Andre Swift, Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson at the running back position, it seems unlikely Jones will see a ton of touches.

Still, there’s a hard-nosed attitude that Jones brings to the table.

“You see him running out there trying to lower his shoulder,” Morton told Shaw Local News Network earlier this summer. “Sometimes you’ve got to talk a running back into doing that, you know? You would think it’s just natural, but a lot of guys [don’t] want to try to get extra yards.”

Jones provides a unique blend of speed, size and that willingness to lower his shoulder. That’s what makes him a dangerous kick returner, too.

[ ‘Hard Knocks’ finale goes behind Chicago Bears’ decision to keep Velus Jones Jr. ]

Jones likely will be the team’s top kick returner. He finished fourth in the NFL in yards per return in 2022 before a 2023 rule change led to a record number of touchbacks across the league. Now, with yet another rule change, the expectation is that kick returns will be back, and the Bears believe Jones can provide an edge.

“[He’s] that big and that fast and then, now, he’s gained a tremendous amount of confidence because he is making a lot more plays now and, obviously, he has done a great job on offense,” Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said. “He’s always done a great job in the kicking game, so [I’m] just looking for him to keep growing, and [I’m] excited about his development.”

Poles drafted Jones with a third-round pick in 2022. Jones was the first offensive player Poles drafted as GM. Jones has only 11 career receptions and 281 yards from scrimmage in 26 career games. But this summer proved emphatically that the Bears aren’t ready to give up on Jones yet.

Jones, for what it’s worth, was confident all along that he would be a part of this 53-man roster.

“I’ve been confident,” Jones said. “Confidence always wins with me. I’d say the past two years, I didn’t have the results I wanted, but that’s in the past now. People can talk about that all they want. I mean, that doesn’t matter anymore. It’s a new year, new season. I’m just trying to get better.”