Brown, Wheaton return to roles with Jacoby Jones benched

Mike Tomlin said he isn't concerned, and neither is Ben Roethlisberger — well, unless somebody gets hurt, most notably Antonio Brown.

The Steelers made a change to their return game Tuesday, replacing ineffective and fumble-prone veteran Jacoby Jones.

The move comes a month after claiming Jones off waivers from the Chargers and two days after he was benched in the second half of a 45-10 win over the Colts.

Brown will resume returning punts (a role he held before the Steelers acquired Jones on Nov. 5) starting Sunday against the first-place Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium, and No. 2 receiver Markus Wheaton will go back to returning kickoffs like he did at the end of last year.

No big deal having two important cogs in a white-hot offense playing on special teams, even though the Steelers are one of only two teams in the NFL that have a starter returning punts and kicks?

It depends on whom you ask.

During Tuesday's news conference, Tomlin had this exchange with a reporter about using a high-priced and highly productive receiver as a punt returner:

Question: Do the rewards outweigh the risks when you have two starting wide receivers as the return guys?

Answer: “Yes.”

Q: It doesn't concern you?

A: “No.”

The Steelers offense has been clicking since getting relatively healthy. They are averaging more than 35 points per game during the past month and tied an NFL record by gaining at least 450 yards in four straight games.

A lot of that success has come through the air and to Brown, who has 41 receptions and 592 yards in that span.

“Well, putting him back there for fun, he may take it to the house, but it is also an extra play on the field where there are 11 guys running down the field while he is looking up in the air to try to kill him,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his weekly radio segment on 93.7 FM. “To me, that's where I get more worried about putting my top two receivers back in punt return and kick return. As long as they don't get hurt, I am OK with it. My concern is losing one of my top two receivers.”

Brown has been the Steelers' main punt returner since his rookie year in 2010 and through his 100-catch seasons in 2013 and '14. Brown has missed only three games because of injury, and that came in 2012 while playing receiver.

It's relatively common to have a starting receiver return punts (nine teams do it).

But it's uncommon to have an elite receiver asked to do it. Of the top 20 highest-paid receivers, only Brown returns punts.

“I don't think it will really affect us on offense taking away from meeting time and worrying about forgetting a play because they are on punt return or kick return,” Roethlisberger said.

Tomlin really had no choice.

The Steelers jumped at the chance to bring in Jones when the Chargers released him eight games into a two-year, $5.5 million free agent contract he signed in the offseason. The Steelers are on the books for a little more than $900,000 of that contract — money they owe him even if they cut him — with no guarantees for 2016.

Jones has struggled from the onset.

He fumbled the opening kickoff of his Steelers career and never regained his form as one of the top special teams players in the league when he was with the Ravens.

The last straw came Sunday when Jones fumbled the opening kickoff against the Colts and another one later in the game that was recovered by the Steelers.

“The ball security, or lack thereof, being the significant reason,” Tomlin said about the change.

Jones, who was averaging 3.2 yards per punt return and 24.4 per kick return with the Steelers, is listed as the backup kickoff returner and third-team punt returner.

Brown has returned 15 punts this year for a 12.1-yard average, including a 71-yard touchdown late in Sunday's win. His career average is more than 10 yards per return, with three of his four touchdowns coming against the Bengals. Wheaton had 20 kickoff returns last year and averaged 24.7 yards.

Mark Kaboly is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at mkaboly@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MarkKaboly_Trib.