This Chicago Bears debut could not have gone worse

One of the most criticized picks by Ryan Poles was Velus Jones in the third round. With that it mind, it is going to be a player that Chicago Bears fans have their eyes on every step of the way, to see if Ryan Poles was right or wrong to pass on other receivers for this talent.

While it is only four weeks into his career, most Bears fans are claiming that they were right about Jones. While it is not fair to blame Jones for missing the first three weeks of the season with a hamstring injury, it did increase the anxiety about the pick.

Then, came the debut game. The thought was that Velus Jones was a player that the Bears would force touches to because of how dynamic he was with the ball in his hands. He is not known as a strong route runner, though, and the reality was that he ended up not playing a single snap on offense.

It can be explained that he was being eased back in and that they did not want to push it with his hamstring, but at the same time, the offense needed a spark and he was drafted to be the spark on offense. He was drafted to take reverse or screenplays that do not take weeks of practice time to draw up.

Whether you blame the Chicago Bears or Jones, the fact that they could not get him on the field on offense is largely disappointing. The team should have a plan for him, and he should be ready to play.

Beyond that came the punt return that ended in a fumble. The one thing that had Bears fans optimistic about Jones was his return ability. He was supposed to bring that to the offensive side, and if he could develop more as a receiver it would be icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, his career started with a costly fumble that essentially ended the game, although it certainly did not lose the team the game. Either way, zero offensive snaps and a lost fumble as a return man is about as bad as it could have gone for Velus Jones.

Players such as Ihmir Smith-Marsette, and Dante Pettis getting snaps over him is concerning, even if it was his debut. We will see if they can get him into the mix now that he is accustomed to the NFL.