New faces and names on the Chicago Bears means a lot of firsts. Count rookie wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. among those who reached their first milestone in 2022 when he snatched his first NFL touchdown reception against the Minnesota Vikings in the third quarter on Sunday. 

And he predicted it would happen against the NFC North rival.

“Every time I closed my eyes before bed, I just visualized me getting in the end zone and how it would look like,” Jones said on Bear Essentials this week. “When that moment came, by any means, I was going to get it through there. I predicted that I would get in the box, and I told everybody. I’m big on manifesting.”

That was Jones’ only target in the 29-22 loss. 

Jones molds his game from various wide receivers; however, there’s a star the Bears faced earlier this season that he believes he shares the same skillset. 

“When I look at Deebo Samuel, the way he’s utilized and how creative they are with him over there [in San Francisco], I would say me and him have a lot of similarities in our game. Being aggressive runners and getting the yards after catch,” Jones said. 

The 3rd-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft from the University of Tennessee was 25 years old at the time of the draft. Jones reflected on his long journey and hopes to bring the maturity and experience from his time in Knoxville, Tenn., to the NFL.

“I have grown so much being in college. Six years in all, red-shirted and also took a COVID year, and so I’m all about my business now. It took a milestone to get here but I’m finally here and I’m all about my business. I’m doing what I can to help this team get to a Super Bowl,” Jones said. 

Despite Sunday’s loss to the Vikings, Jones has ‘no doubt’ that quarterback Justin Fields provides that leadership role to his teammates and what he can do the rest of the season.

“His leadership skills in the building, him being a our quarterback on our team, a leader, the guys look up to him even though how young he is, it’s his mentality,” Jones praised about his quarterback. “I would say his best ball is yet to come and I feel like week by week, it’s going to get better and better.”

Watch the full interview with Velus Jones Jr. above.