INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Velus Jones Jr. has been waiting for his opportunity. The second-year wide receiver has been working hard in practice, putting in the hours to improve to capitalize when the Bears call his number.
That moment arrived Sunday night at SoFi Stadium when Jones blew past a corner late in the second quarter and was wide open in the end zone. Quarterback Tyson Bagent let it fly, but Jones slipped and fell with no one around him, and he could not secure the ball while on his backside.
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The Bears shook off Jones' gaffe and scored later in the drive. But Jones' fall was the perfect moment to illustrate the dud the Bears laid in their 30-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on "Sunday Night Football."
After the loss, Jones sat at his locker with his head hung and tried to talk through another brutal moment in his young career.
“I would say that when I got even with the DB, I knew that I was going to be open. I went to digging," Jones said after the loss. "I had to look back for the ball. A little underthrown, so I had to start working back to the ball as I was running trying to track it, and yeah, I lost my footing because I was running back to it at an angle. I almost ran past it, and I slipped. It’s not no excuse. It was a catchable ball. I mean, I had it."
Jones noted how tough it is that these moments keep happening despite all the time he's putting in to get better during the week.
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"It’s real devastating when you prepare all week for practice and put in the extra work that’s needed. You catch a ball like that 100 times after practice, 100 times on the JUGS, and it’s like that small window of opportunity that you get to show what you can do, and it don’t happen for you. I feel like it happens for a reason. I feel like everything happens for a reason, and I feel this is a great opportunity for me to learn from it, get back to work, and work on that same route when I get back to practice. It definitely sucks. Everything went wrong, and like I said, routine play, made it 100 times in practice but it just sucks when you put in the work and it don’t happen."
Bagent said after the game that he has complete trust in Jones and won't hesitate to let it fly his direction again if that play is called.
For Jones, Sunday's flop was the latest error in a turbulent young career defined by costly mistakes in big moments.
“Great call by coach," Jones said. "Just sucks that I can’t capitalize on it. Like I said, from a man you learn from your mistakes, you watch the film, and see what you could have did better. It just sucks that you put in the work for that small window of opportunity and things don’t go your way. I can either dwell on this or I can get back to work and when the opportunity comes back my way, I can capitalize on it.”
Jones admitted he was frustrated that these errors -- the muffed punts, fumble, and now this -- keep happening to him in the rare moments he gets to showcase his skills.
The Tennessee product vowed to get back to work and correct the mistakes. But it's getting late early for the 2022 third-round pick.
The Bears aren't good enough to have a player continually make massive errors in critical moments. They can't overcome the turnovers and missed explosive plays that have come to define Jones early on in his career.
When someone pointed out that he almost hauled in the pass while lying on his back, Jones' gaze never left the ground.
"Almost don't count," Jones said.
No, it doesn't, and the Bears have to be getting tired of hearing the world almost associated with Jones and his costly blunders.