In order for Pittsburgh Steelers rookie linebacker Jarvis Jones to reach his full potential, linebackers coach Keith Butler thinks he needs to work on a few things.
While at Georgia, Jones often times used his inside pass rush move as his bread and butter. While Butler acknowledged to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette how effective that move was for Jones, he also explained why his young linebacker won\’t be able to use it all the time with the Steelers.
“He has a great inside move,” Butler told Bouchette. “He is as quick as anybody and, when he gets that inside move on you, it\’s very hard to stop him from getting to the quarterback. He\’s very good at that.
“But … we have a lot of things going on inside him with stunts and games and things like that, that if he does go inside he\’s going to run into somebody. And so we don\’t want to put him in a position where he\’s running into someone else\’s rush lane. We want to keep him outside.
“It\’s not just all him doing what he wants to all the time. He\’s got to do what the defense requires more than anything else.”
In addition, Butler also told Bouchette that Jones needs to add a power move to his pass rushing arsenal. Butler calls the move “Walking the Dog,” where a pass rusher will push a tackle back into the quarterback like he is on roller skates.
Jones has heavy hands according to former Steelers offensive lineman Tunch Ilkin, who thinks and that should help him in his development of a power move.
In the preseason opener Saturday night against the New York Giants, Jones showed he has quickness, but he never really threatened the quarterback during his 16 pass rushing opportunities. Several times, Jones tried to gain the edge, but without success. He did record a fumble recover and two tackles during the game, but was a non factor outside of those three plays.
Jones will get to show what he learned from his first game action next Monday against the Washington Redskins.
