Chicago Bears training camp: 4 return specialists to keep an eye on

LAKE FOREST – While fans are focused on quarterback Justin Fields and the Bears offense, the Bears are investing plenty of time into figuring out who is going to take on key special teams roles.

Aside from kicker and punter, the Bears need to sort out who their kick and punt returners will be, as well as who their gunners and top coverage guys are going to be. The roster will consist of 53 players, and the Bears will dress 46 players on game days. Finding versatile backups who also can take on special teams jobs is always a challenge.

That’s what special teams coordinator Richard Hightower is here to do. His job is to figure out who fits where. Special teams coordinators are always trying to work magic at the fringes of the roster.

A good return specialist can change the course of a football game. Look no further than legendary Bears returner Devin Hester. Here are four potential return men to watch on this year’s Bears roster.

Velus Jones Jr.

Hightower said the thing he’s most excited about from Velus Jones Jr. this summer has been his maturity. Jones faced some notable struggles last season when he fumbled two key fourth-quarter punt returns in winnable games. He was a rookie at the time and he lost the punt return job midway through the season.

Hightower has seen a Jones who is focused on getting better.

“He’s done a lot of work when he’s away, catching with several different punters,” Hightower said. “Really taking his catch load up from where it was to what it is now on a daily basis, and I just see a change in the human being from year one to year two. He’s catching the ball better and he’s finishing better, and he’s all around a better football player.”

Whether or not he finds himself returning punts in Week 1, Jones still will be the favorite to return kickoffs. He finished fourth in the NFL with 27.6 yards per kick return last season. That job would appear to be his to lose.

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Dante Pettis

Veteran receiver Dante Pettis should be in contention for the punt return job, but the problem is he has been sidelined throughout camp thus far. The 27-year-old held the punt return job last season after Jones lost it. He returned 18 punts last season with a 9.1 yards-per-return average.

Pettis arrived at training camp last week and was immediately placed on the non-football injury list with an undisclosed injury. That typically means a player showed up at camp with an injury that happened outside the team facility. Head coach Matt Eberflus didn’t sound too worried about Pettis’ injury when asked about it last week.

If Pettis returns healthy soon, he could challenge Jones for the punt return job. He hasn’t done kick returns since 2020.

Tyler Scott

The rookie fourth-round draft pick is a bit of a wild card. His speed at the wide receiver position has the Bears intrigued by the possibilities on special teams. Scott has worked on fielding punts, despite never fielding a punt in college.

“I’m starting to get more comfortable with it,” Scott said. “Starting to kind of really read the ball, that’s a big thing, especially being a punt returner. Reading the ball with your eyes. Just kind of watching how the ball falls, whether it’s a right-footed punter or a a left-footed punter.”

Scott has made a point to try to read the spin on the ball even when it’s not his turn to field it in practice.

“Every time a correction is made, he never makes the same mistake,” Hightower said. “I love that about him.”

“Every time a correction is made, [Tyler Scott] never makes the same mistake. I love that about him.”

—  Richard Hightower, Bears special teams coordinator

Aron Cruickshank

The former former Rutgers return man is another rookie drawing attention. The Bears signed him as an undrafted free agent following April’s draft.

At 5-foot-9, 165 pounds, Cruickshank is small in stature, but he ran a 4.52 in the 40-yard dash at his Rutgers pro day with a 37-inch vertical. In college, Cruickshank averaged 23.4 yards on 58 kick returns with two touchdowns, as well as 10.3 yards on 19 punt returns with one touchdown.

It’s an uphill battle for any undrafted rookie to make the 53-man roster, but especially at a wide receiver position that has become crowded. The preseason games will be his time to prove himself.

“He just needs to continue what he’s been doing,” Hightower said. “He’s been catching the ball well on punts and on returns. He’s going to get an opportunity just like all he rookies do in the preseason.”

Even if Cruickshank doesn’t make the active roster, he could be a dangerous enough return man that the Bears try to keep him around on the practice squad.