Simone Biles isn’t the only one in her family doing big things these days.
Jonathan Owens recovered a blocked punt Sunday afternoon and returned it for a touchdown, the Chicago Bears’ first of the season. It is the second TD of Owens’ career; he scored on a fumble recovery for the Green Bay Packers last year in their Thanksgiving Day game against the Detroit Lions.
Biles, who married Owens in April 2023, immediately reacted. ‘My heart,’ the seven-time Olympic champion wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The TD was a big lift for the Bears, who looked otherwise dismal in the much-anticipated debut of quarterback Caleb Williams. The No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL draft was 8 of 14 for 54 yards in the first half against the Tennessee Titans, as Chicago fell behind 17-3.
But Owens’ third quarter score jump-started a Chicago comeback that ended with a 24-17 victory. Daniel Hardy blocked Ryan Stonehouse’s punt and Owens scooped up the ball at the Tennessee 21 and sprinted into the end zone for the score. It pared Tennessee’s lead to 17-10.
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Owens signed with the Bears in the offseason, and his support for Biles was a big theme of this season’s Hard Knocks. The team gave Owens permission to miss part of training camp so he could go to Paris and watch Biles compete at the Olympics. He arrived in time to watch Biles and the U.S. women win the team gold and was there two days later when she became only the third woman to win two Olympic all-around titles.
Biles also won gold on the vault and silver on floor exercise after Owens had returned to Chicago. That gives her 11 Olympic medals overall.
Though Williams made a couple of nice throws in the first 30 minutes, he repeatedly overthrew his receivers on third down. That included a third-and-5 from the Tennessee 6 on Chicago’s final possession of the first half. The Bears had begun the drive with great field position, thanks to a 66-yard kickoff return by DeAndre Carter. But after a 13-yard completion to D.J. Moore on the second play, Williams and the Bears sputtered and wound up settling for Cairo Santos’ 24-yard field goal.
Williams finished the game 14 of 29 for 93 yards. He added 15 rushing yards on five attempts.
