CHICAGO — Velus Jones Jr. fell to the ground at the 9-yard line Thursday night at Soldier Field, and the football hit him in the face mask and bounced to the field.
The Chicago Bears rookie returner tried to jump on the fumble, but the Washington Commanders recovered it at the Bears 6-yard line.
Two plays later, Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. scored on a 1-yard run, and following a failed two-point conversion, the Commanders had a 12-7 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
A mistake like Jones’ muffed catch in a game in which the Bears failed to score from within 5 yards of the end zone three times was too much. The Commanders left Chicago with the ugly 12-7 win — their second of the season. The Bears (2-4) lost their third straight.
The Bears and quarterback Justin Fields had two chances to retake the lead, including a drive in the final two minutes in which they had first-and-goal from the 5-yard line following Fields’ 39-yard scramble.
But Fields scrambled for 1 yard and threw incomplete twice. He then hit Darnell Mooney with a 3-yard pass. Mooney made a leaping grab but came down just short of the goal line. In the first half, the Bears failed to score twice after getting within 5 yards of the end zone and went into halftime down 3-0.
One drive before the short Mooney catch, the Bears drove to the Commanders 43-yard line, but a delay-of-game penalty on third-and-11 and a Fields incompletion to Ihmir Smith-Marsette on fourth-and-16 ended the threat.
Commanders kicker Joey Slye missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt wide left on the ensuing drive, giving the Bears one last chance.
Fields completed 14 of 27 passes for 190 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
He threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Dante Pettis to give the Bears a 7-3 lead midway through the third quarter. Pettis beat cornerback Kendall Fuller and barely got his feet inbounds on a perfect pass to the left side of the end zone. The touchdown came on a free play after officials threw a flag for the Commanders having too many men on the field.
Fields stayed on the ground for several seconds after he was knocked down on the play but returned to the game on the next drive.
The Bears stopped the Commanders at the 10-yard line on their second drive of the second half when Justin Jones batted down Wentz’s pass on third-and-10. Slye made a 28-yard field goal to cut the Bears’ lead to 7-6.
The Bears had a chance to build on their lead after the defense came up with a big stop on the next drive, but Jones fumbled his second punt return in three games, the other in a loss to the New York Giants.
Bears right guard Teven Jenkins briefly was out of the game to begin the second half with a shoulder injury, and Michael Schofield replaced him. But Jenkins returned when left guard Lucas Patrick left to be evaluated for a concussion. Schofield slid over to left guard. Patrick returned later in the half.
