The real reason Chicago Bears made Velus Jones active Sunday

When the Chicago Bears activated Velus Jones on Sunday after two weeks of being inactive, there were thoughts about Jones potentially getting involved in the offense again. However, Jones only logged eight snaps on offense and was the wide receiver six.

The Bears had not kept six receivers active all season but chose to do so on Sunday. While part of the reason was needing Jones on kick returns, the coaching staff noted a much bigger increase in special teams usage as to why he would probably get the call-up.

Chicago Bears use Velus Jones on special teams

With Dane Cruikshank injured with a hamstring, the team could have decided to activate Lamar Jackson, who has a history of special teams play, or Justin Layne, who they just signed, but also has years of work on teams.

However, instead of activating a defensive back for the injured safety, they went with Velus Jones. When you replace Dane Cruikshank, you are not just stepping into the kick return role, although Jones did do that.

Still, the big reason that Jones was activated was that he became a four-phase special teams player for the first time in his career.

Velus Jones returned kicks, which was notable. However, he also was on the punt return team, just not as a punt returner. Beyond that, he was a gunner on both kick coverage and punt coverage.

These are the first times that Jones has ever played both units. It is a bit surprising that the team trusted Jones on these units to replace Cruikshank, a valued special teams asset. Still, they must have figured that the combination of him getting small offensive work, kick return work, and those snaps were more valuable than Lamar Jackson just replacing Dane Cruikshank.

Unfortunately, things did not necessarily go well for Jones, who had a poor overall grade on special teams, despite one long return. He missed a tackle on punt coverage and obviously was out there during the Cordarelle Patterson return for a touchdown. He was not the reason the return broke, but he outran the return and was nowhere near the ball.

Cruikshank has a hamstring injury, and the Chicago Bears are known to ease players back from injuries, so you may see Jones active for another week or two. Still, at this point, he is going to have to continue to earn his helmet on special teams. He is not going to climb the wide receiver depth chart, as he is still the sixth man in that group.