Pittsburgh Steelers rookie outside linebacker Jarvis Jones returned to practice field on Monday after missing time with a chest injury that he suffered in the third preseason game, but according to Jim Wexell of Steel City Insider, the Georgia product only received one insignificant rep with the first team defense.
During the preseason, Jones saw plenty of playing time with the first-team defense as he was part of a three man rotation that included LaMarr Woodley and Jason Worilds. Despite that rotation, however, Woodley told Wexell that was only for the preseason and that we shouldn’t read much into it beyond that.
Judging by what Woodley had to say, it appears as though Worilds will start at right outside linebacker Sunday in the season opener against the Tennessee Titans and that Jones will be lucky to see any playing time on defense unless an injury occurs.
Should Jones be relegated to only playing on special teams, it won’t be overly surprising considering how the Steelers usually take their time in getting young defensive players on the field because of the complexities of the defense run by Dick LeBeau. LeBeau, however, did say a few weeks ago in an interview that Jones has “it” and that they plan on using “it” at some point during his rookie year.
Jones has progressed fast, but apparently not fast enough and his chest injury may have set him behind a little bit. It appears as though Worilds will start against the Titans and that he and Woodley aren’t expected to come off the field much if any to start the season.
