Bears’ Darnell Mooney on circus catch: ‘We needed a spark’

MINNEAPOLIS — Before the Bears took the field to start their drive down 21-3 with 1:54 left in the first half Sunday, wide receiver Darnell Mooney pulled quarterback Justin Fields aside.

“I was telling Justin, ‘Hey, if you gotta use your feet to give us a spark or something like that, use it,’ ’’ Mooney said. ‘‘ ‘We need something. We have to get seven on this drive before we come out at halftime.’ ’’

Turns out, Mooney was the spark. On the first play of the drive from midfield, Fields launched a pass down the left sideline that Mooney caught in spectacular fashion. With Vikings cornerback Chandon Sullivan all over him, Mooney turned his back to the end zone, jumped and reached up with his right hand.

He grabbed the ball one-handed and pulled it into his body, falling to the ground for a 39-yard gain.

“We needed a spark,” Mooney, who had two catches for 52 yards, said after the Bears’ 29-22 loss at U.S. Bank Stadium. “It was pretty dry out there.”

The Bears scored a touchdown three plays later, the first of 19 unanswered points.

“I feel like, if it’s in my vicinity, whether it’s two-handed or one-handed, I gotta catch the ball,” Mooney said.

Velus scores

Rookie wide receiver Velus Jones touched the ball on offense for the first time in his career — and scored. On first-and-goal at the 9 on the first drive of the third quarter, Jones went in motion from left to right and caught a touch pass from Fields on a speed sweep. He went around the right edge and plowed into the end zone.

“It was just going over practice, visualizing me actually scoring a touchdown,” Jones said. “I believed when my number was called that I was gonna make it happen for the team.”

That’s a different feeling than last week, when Jones muffed a punt with about two minutes to play that cost the Bears a chance to beat the Giants.

“I know who I am, and I know the player I can be,” he said.

D-Mo back

Two weeks after suffering a grisly injury to his right knee and ankle, running back David Montgomery started. He caught four passes for a team-high 62 yards and ran 12 times for 20 yards. His best gain was a nine-yard touchdown at the end of the first half.

“If you love playing the game, you don’t ever want to sit out or be on the side,” he said. “I was trying my best to come back in the smartest way possible.”

The jersey he wore during warmups didn’t look very smart — the Bears spelled his last name “Montogomery.’’ It was fixed before kickoff.

This and that

After missing last week’s game for personal reasons, Bears kicker Cairo Santos made field goals of 43, 50 and 51 yards.

“I was able to get back in the rhythm just like I did against Houston,” Santos said.

† Linebacker Matt Adams left the game with a calf injury.