Bears special teams coordinator breaks down blocked punt that may been turning point in Dolphins game

In a game where the Bears went toe-to-toe with an explosive Miami Dolphins offense on Sunday at Soldier Field, the difference may have been a key special teams mistake in the second quarter.

Dolphins pass rusher Jaelan Phillips blew past the protection to block a punt from Bears punter Trenton Gill. Dolphins rusher Andrew Van Ginkel picked up the football and ran back a 25-yard touchdown.

Bears running back Khalil Herbert, who is on the punt team, completely whiffed on his attempt to block Phillips.

"It's just a missed assignment," Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said Thursday at Halas Hall. "Got to stay inside on him. Just a missed assignment."

At the time, the score extended Miami's lead to 21-10. It proved to be a difference maker in what ultimately became a Dolphins win, 35-32. The Bears were forced to play catch up throughout the second half. It spoiled a magnificent day from QB Justin Fields.

Blocking has been one of the areas where Herbert has struggled. On offense, David Montgomery continues to out-snap Herbert because of his abilities to break tackles and catch passes, but also because he's a better pass blocker. That makes a big difference to NFL coaches.

"He's a willing blocker," Bears running backs coach David Walker said. "He'll put his body on guys and do the best he can in those situations. (He) may get overpowered slightly by bull-rush-type guys. Finesse guys, he can handle for the most part."

The 6-foot-5, 266-pound Phillips, who had 8½ sacks last season as a rookie, is not exactly a finesse guy. But it's one thing to be overpowered by a bull rush and it's another to completely whiff.

Herbert dove at Phillips' legs on the punt and came up empty.

"Nobody works harder in this building than him," Hightower said. "He's an outstanding person. Obviously, you guys saw what happened. There's not much more to add on what happened other than that guy was great on the sidelines, he's a great teammate, working his tail off."

Overall, the Bears have been pretty good in kick and punt protection. Analytics-wise, they rank in the top half of the league in special teams efficiency, according to Football Outsiders, including seventh in punt coverage. That's what made Sunday's blocked punt so surprising.

Velus Jones update:

Rookie receiver Velus Jones Jr. found himself wearing street clothes Sunday. The Bears listed Jones inactive ahead of the Dolphins game.

Head coach Matt Eberflus said it was largely based on Jones' special teams mishaps.

When the Bears added receiver Chase Claypool in a trade last week, it left them with six receivers on the roster. Even with a 53-man roster, teams are allowed to have a maximum of 48 players dress on game day. Most teams dress only five receivers. With Claypool now in the mix, somebody who had previously been playing was likely to be sidelined.

On Sunday, it was Jones. The rookie has twice fumbled key fourth-quarter punt returns. He has never played more than 19% of offensive snaps, so it wasn't like the offense was losing a key cog.

The Bears may have been forced to sideline Jones, a third-round draft pick, but they're not giving up on him yet.

"One thing that all high-performance people have in common is they got to compete," Hightower said when asked about Jones. "They got to fight. They got to scratch. They got to claw. They got to have an urgency to get better, which he has, and just keep competing. Keep hunting. That's what we got to keep doing."

Bears waive TE Tonges:

The Bears waived undrafted rookie tight end Jake Tonges on Thursday. That puts the team's roster at 52 players.

Receiver Byron Pringle's 21-day window to return off injured reserve will close after this week. The Bears have two options: activate him or shut him down for the season. Tonges' release is likely a precursor to Pringle being activated.

Injury updates:

During practice Thursday, right guard Teven Jenkins (hip), cornerback Jaylon Johnson (oblique), defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad (knee) and cornerback Kindle Vildor (knee) were all listed as limited participants.

Jenkins and Johnson were new additions to the injury report.