In advance of Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders, the Chicago Bears restored running Travis Homer and defensive end Jacob Martin to the active roster from injured reserve, waived wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. and released fullback Khari Blasingame.
Jones and Blasingame were Alabama high school standouts before reaching the NFL – Jones at Saraland and Blasingame at Buckhorn.
A third-round selection from Tennessee in the 2022 NFL Draft, Jones had an 8-reception and two carries for 11 yards in Chicago’s season-opening game as he added running-back duties to his positional versatility. But he also muffed a kickoff and had not played since.
In his first two seasons, Jones had 11 receptions for 127 yards and one touchdown, 17 rushing attempts for 154 yards and one touchdown, 38 kickoff returns for a 27.4-yard average and five punt returns for a 7.0-yard average.
An undrafted rookie from Vanderbilt, Blasingame was signed off the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad by the Tennessee Titans during the 2019 season to make his NFL debut. In 2020, he lined up in front of Derrick Henry 165 times as the former Alabama All-American recorded the eighth 2,000-yard rushing season in NFL history. Blasingame joined the Bears in 2022.
Over the previous two seasons, Blasingame had 360 offensive snaps and 425 special-teams plays in 32 games. But this season, he had 10 offensive snaps and 25 special-teams plays in two games as the Bears used offensive lineman Doug Kramer as a fullback in short-yardage situations.
In 66 NFL regular-season games, Blasingame has 11 carries for 32 yards and 13 receptions for 99 yards.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
