Ex-Bears WR Eric Weems turns to Devin Hester for inspiration

HOUSTON — Eric Weems presumed his days with the Bears were coming to an end. He’d accepted a pay cut before the 2014 preseason and knew then-general manager Phil Emery wanted his special-teamers to skew younger.

“I guess my time was just up,” he said Wednesday. “I didn’t complain.”

Instead, he found a new home — in exactly five days.

Weems returned to the Falcons, whom he played for from 2007 to 2011, earning a special-teamer Pro Bowl nod in 2010. In the three seasons since, he has survived a regime change, watching coach Mike Smith — who shares his hometown of Daytona Beach, Florida — get replaced by Dan Quinn.

This season, Weems inherited Devin Hester’s duties, returning 24 punts for 273 yards and 17 kicks for 391. His 73-yard punt-return touchdown was a career high.

“The thing he’s done is he understands that special teams is his role,” said Falcons special-teams coordinator Keith Armstrong, who served in the same role for the Bears from 1997 to 2000. “That’s his niche, and that’s what keeps him in this league. And he’s embraced that.”

Weems, a wide receiver by trade, smiled when asked if he’ll take a cue from his friend Hester, who returned the Super Bowl’s opening kick 11 years ago for a touchdown, on Sunday.

After being teammates in Chicago and Atlanta, the two talk weekly.

“Devin’s a real inspiration,” Weems said. “No one can argue he’s one of the [greatest] returners. He’s an in-game Hall of Famer.”

Brother to brother

When Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels dials his phone on the drive home after a long day of work, it rings in Chicago — where brother Ben serves as the Bears’ offensive assistant coach.

“There’s not a lot of people you can call when you’re driving home at midnight or 11:30 during the work week,” McDaniels said. “He’s one of them.”

Ben McDaniels joined the Bears in 2016 after one year as Rutgers’ offensive coordinator. He is “with great people in Chicago,” his brother said. Ben will land in Houston on Saturday to cheer Josh in person.

Wink, wink

Asked what he remembered about playing linebacker for the Bears in 1996 and ’97, Falcons assistant coach Bryan Cox smiled.

“Michael Jordan winking at my ex-wife when we went to the game,” the loquacious defensive line coach said.

Dave Wannstedt took Cox and his then-wife to a Bulls game before he signed, and Jordan winked before a free throw. Cox didn’t mind.

“That’s MJ,” Cox said. “That would be like Oprah [Winfrey] winking at me. The two best things about Chicago.”

It certainly wasn’t the Bears, who went 7-9 in 1996 and 4-12 in 1997.

“They were more concerned with getting the first pick in the draft,” he said. “I feel like that was two years of my life that I wasted, where it wasn’t productive because I wasn’t with an organization that was trying to win a championship.”

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Email: pfinley@suntimes.com