Jones recorded 57 tackles and one pass breakup over 16 games in 2020.
Your proverbial jack of all trades but master of none, Jones followed up a solid 2019 campaign with another one in 2020. However, both the head coach and general manager that valued his versatility have been fired, making it possible that Jones has played his last game with Detroit. The Lions could save over $2 million against the salary cap by letting go of the soon-to-be 30-year-old this offseason.
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Lions' Christian Jones: Good to go for Week 11
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Jones (knee) doesn't carry an injury designation into Sunday's game against the Panthers, Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official site reports.
Jones was limited at all three of Detroit's practices this week but evidently looked good enough to get cleared for game day. As a result, he'll be out there in his usual spot as a starting outside linebacker Sunday.
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Lions' Christian Jones: Held back at Wednesday's practice
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Jones (knee) was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice.
Jones logged a pair of limited practices last week but ended up playing against the Football Team, although he handled a season-low 22 percent snap share on defense. Perhaps his knee injury caused the drop in usage, but his limited practice capacity to start the week bodes well for his availability in this Sunday's contest against the Panthers.
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Lions' Christian Jones: Active against Minnesota
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Jones (knee) is active for Sunday's game versus the Vikings.
Jones has logged exactly 51 percent of the defensive workload in each of the past two games, totaling eight tackles (two solo) in that stretch. He's expected to remain as the team's starting inside linebacker, however, and he'll have the tall task of slowing down Dalvin Cook.
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Lions' Christian Jones: Pops up on injury report
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Jones (knee) is questionable for Sunday's game against the Saints, Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official site reports.
Jones wasn't listed on the injury report until Friday when he didn't practice. It's possible his absence was simply precautionary, but his final status won't be revealed until 90 minutes before Sunday's 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff. If he misses any time, expect Reggie Ragland to bump into a starting outside linebacker role.
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Lions' Christian Jones: Inactive Week 15
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Jones (shoulder) is officially inactive for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay.
The 28-year-old received the questionable tag after working as a limited practice participant this week, but he won't be suiting up Sunday. Jalen Reeves-Maybin figures to see increased defensive snaps while Jones misses his first game of the season.
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Lions' Christian Jones: Wearing wrist brace
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Jones is wearing a brace on his left wrist Monday, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reports.
Jones appears to have picked up a wrist injury of undisclosed severity during Sunday's win over the Eagles. He notched six tackles (3 solo) during the contest. Wednesday's first injury report of the week should shed some light on Jones' health, as well as his chances of suiting up Week 4 versus Kansas City.
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Lions' Christian Jones: Major uptick in action
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Jones recorded six tackles (five solo) and a sack across 59 defensive snaps in Sunday's loss to the 49ers.
After being limited to only 27 defensive snaps in the season-opener, Jones saw a major uptick in action Sunday. The linebacker played 92 percent of the Lions' defensive snaps as a starter and tied Jarrad Davis for the lead in tackles. After a strong outing on an otherwise disappointing day, Jones has a good chance of seeing a similar workload Sunday night against the Patriots.
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Christian Jones: Heading to Detroit
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Jones will sign a two-year, $7.75 contract with the Lions, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Jones was moved into a starting role for the Bears last season due to linebacker injuries, and he managed to record 90 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in 16 games. He should compete for a starting role in Detroit, a team that struggled at the linebacker position last season.
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Bears' Christian Jones: Will play Sunday
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Jones (back) is active for Sunday's Week 2 contest against Tampa Bay, Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com reports.
Jones recorded just one tackle in the Bears' Week 1 loss to Atlanta after seeing limited snaps in his backup linebacking role. He isn't likely to see a significant amount of time against the Buccaneers this week.
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Bears' Christian Jones: Suffers ankle injury
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Jones suffered an ankle injury Sunday against the Giants and is doubtful to return.
The specifics of the injury are still unknown but the Bears would be limited to Nick Kwiatkoski as the only reserve inside linebacker on the active roster.
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Bears' Christian Jones: Will rejoin starting lineup
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Jones will replace Shea McClellin (concussion) in the starting lineup for Sunday's game against the Buccaneers, Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune reports.
One week after being made a healthy inactive, Jones will return to active duty in a starting role, which had been the case in the prior 13 games he'd appeared in. The second-year linebacker hasn't quite met expectations this season, but he's still been a serviceable week-to-week source for tackles, logging 5.8 stops per game.
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Bears' Christian Jones: Makes seven stops Sunday
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Jones was credited with seven tackles in Sunday's 24-21 loss to the Redskins.
Jones leads the Bears with 75 tackles on the season, but that's a fairly modest sum for a middle linebacker who has appeared in all 13 of his team's games. The second-year man from Florida State will likely need to provide closer to double-digit tackle production on a weekly basis before he warrants more serious interest as an IDP option.
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Former undrafted LB to be feature in revamped Bears' defense
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The Bears have a reputation for always fielding a solid defense year in and year out. This year, the team is hopeful that a former undrafted linebacker can help their defense maintain its reputation, per ESPN.com.
Christian Jones -- a second year player out of Florida State -- made the team last year after going undrafted. He played in all 16 games, started five contests and recorded 68 tackles.
Jones is now the favorite to start at linebacker going into his second season.
"I've always stayed focused, trusted in the system, trusted in the coaches, and I had a lot of support coming in," Jones said. "Things don't go your way sometimes. You've just got to keep moving forward. That's what I did. Every day I came out here I tried to practice hard, tried to get better and did everything I could to just help out the team, and it paid off a little bit."
Jones shifter from inside to outside linebacker last season, but added on muscle during the offseason in order to be ready for a more permanent move to inside this season.
"It's an aggressive style of defense and we have one of the best coaches in the league coaching us and that's exciting," Jones said. "We have great players here right now. We have veterans, some young guys that can all contribute and help out. You put a guy like coach Vic Fangio with that, we can do some special things if we continue to go out here and work hard."
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Bears add nine college free agents
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The Bears signed nine undrafted rookie free agents: running back Jordan Lynch (Northern Illinois), defensive tackles Brandon Dunn (Louisville) and Lee Pegues (East Carolina), linebackers Tana Patrick (Alabama), Christian Jones (Florida State) and Devekeyan Lattimore (South Florida), guards Ryan Groy (Wisconsin) and James Dunbar (TCU), and offensive tackle Cody Booth (Temple).
