Bears receiver Velus Jones is 25. That’s old by NFL rookie standards. It’s young in comparison to the majority of the population.
But he’s feeling his age as he prepares to get his NFL career going. More accurately, he’s feeling compelled to explain that it’s a non-issue.
‘People talk about it, but it don’t matter,” Jones recently said on The Sick Podcast, via NFL.com. “I’m a baller at the end of the day. I know what I can do. Me being 25 years [old] is not going to stop me from running past people to score touchdowns and stuff like that. I’m going to be fast for a long time, strong for a long time and making plays for a long time. So, it’s really irrelevant.”
The third-round pick ended up in college for six years, between redshirting and opting out during the first year of Covid.
“Through that process, it wasn’t for nothing,” Jones said. “I got an undergrad at USC and I also got a master’s. So I took, full advantage. And also perfected my craft, also. If I can go back and do it over, I would change nothing.”
It also helps that he regards his tires as having most of their tread.
“I never had any major injuries in college,” Jones said. “Only thing I had was like a boxing fracture and a high ankle sprain. Never broke a bone, never had surgery in my life. So, honestly I have the body of like a 21 or 22 year old. Then some guys that have a lot of injuries in college and that you know are going to take punishment in the NFL, but I’m healthy as, like a baby horse. I’m healthy as all get out. That really is irrelevant, you know people gonna talk about it. I only can control what I can control, so they can just stay tuned on that.”
Given the dearth of high-end weapons in the Chicago offense (the receiver room includes Equanimeous St. Brown, Darnell Mooney, Byron Pringle, Dante Pettis, Tajae Sharpe, and David Moore), Jones should get a chance to hit the ground running -- with his 25-year-old “baby horse” legs.
