While Justin Fields started to show progress on Sunday, the Chicago Bears still have plenty of work to do on offense. That includes Fields but also includes players around him. The Bears’ wide receivers’ issues have been obvious, and injuries have not helped.
The team lost Byron Pringle, N’Keal Harry, and Velus Jones through the majority of the season to date. While they may not be getting Pringle back soon, Jones has slowly been eased into the mix, and Harry appears ready to return to the lineup as well.
N’Keal Harry expected to return for Chicago Bears
#Bears have activated WR N’Keal Harry (high ankle sprain) from injured reserve. That makes the 53-man roster full. They were running at 52 since Wednesday.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) October 10, 2022
The Chicago Bears activating Harry should mean that there is a chance that he will be suited up on Sunday. The team already opened his practice window last week, so he spent the past three days practicing in full.
It is a short week, but at the very least the team could make him active, and have him as a depth player who can be used in emergency situations.
The return and the ease in on Thursday Night Football could help, and then it gives him a longer window to take a step forward the following week against the Patriots.
Considering the Chicago Bears go from a Thursday game to a game the following Monday that is plenty of time to get him installed into the playbook, and it would be three weeks of practice time, so he would be fully healthy. Of course, it would also open him up for a revenge game narrative against the Patriots.
The Chicago Bears have been using Darnell Mooney in the slot, so in three wide receivers sets, you could see Harry and Equanimeous St. Brown on the outside, with Mooney in the slot. It would put the rookie Velus Jones in a fourth wide receiver role which is not promising on paper, but it also would open him up to be moved around and used specifically on jet sweeps and screens.
This could help him get eased into the NFL after an abbreviated offseason during his rookie year. The Chicago Bears WR room could look a bit different by the time they take the field against the Patriots, and at least with the return of Jones and Harry in combination with the acceptable play of Mooney and St. Brown, the room would start to look more like a normal NFL wide receiver corps.