Bears rookies cornerback Kyler Gordon and wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. returned to practice on Monday after being sidelined with injuries.
Despite not practicing or participating in the preseason opener last week, Gordon and Jones were able to stay involved on the sidelines with mental reps.
Gordon made sure to get a play sheet from the coaches, and he studied each play to stay focused. Given Gordon has seen time at both outside and nickel cornerback this summer, he paid attention to both positions while sidelined.
“I just do a good job of like looking at the whole play and thinking about both assignments,” Gordon said. “Then I’ll see the formation and be like, ‘OK, if I’m here this is what I do, if I’m here this is what I do.’ Depending on different team periods, I’ll lock in on say the nickel, I’ll be conscious of both, but have the eyes of the nickel. And then the different period, I’ll have eyes on the corner. That’s just how I go about it.”
Meanwhile, Jones kept close to the quarterbacks, where he had a chance to see the plays from their perspective. While Jones couldn’t be on the field, he visualized himself out there when plays were developing.
“I’m always, at night, just visualizing myself like making plays on certain play calls and stuff like that,” Jones said. “So it’s like just picture seeing myself in there when one of the guys run a route and thinking about how they looked in their route, the details about the route and stuff. Or I can take something from their game, something I might like. So I’m all about when I’m on the side and stuff, visualizing myself making a play or catch or block.”
Both Gordon and Jones are on track to make their preseason debuts this Thursday night against the Seahawks.
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