Pittsburgh Steelers former first-round pick Jarvis Jones is entering his second season, during which he is looking to show significant improvement from his rookie year. While he managed to match his season sack total from a year ago of one, and made a play here and there throughout the afternoon, there’s certainly still room for Jones to grow.
The Cleveland Browns’ opening drive almost never got off the ground, as they faced a third and one immediately and risked punting immediately. Unfortunately for Jones, tight end Jim Dray was able to get the better of him on this short-yardage situation, getting him off his feet and knocking him to the ground.
Two plays later, after a long reception, Jones had a chance for an impact play with a wide open path to wide receiver Andrew Hawkins on an end around, but he somehow managed to bounce right off the 175 pounder. Instead of a loss of five yards, it turned into a gain of one.
Toward the end of the first quarter, Jones did manage to get into tight end Jordan Cameron’s chest, walking him down the line while catching the foot of running back Ben Tate to make the tackle on first down for a loss of one.
On the next play, however, he bit on the misdirection and was out of position when the Browns ran a reverse to Travis Benjamin, who was able to find the left sideline for 10 yards, just short of a first down.
On the Browns’ next possession, Jones was able to bully Cameron, whom Cleveland left to block the outside linebacker in pass protection. He was able to get inside the tight end and showed nice closing technique in sacking Brian Hoyer.
Later in the second quarter, Jones lost his footing as a result of a cut block that allowed Tate to get around him. The Browns had the play blocked well down the field, and it led to a 25-yard gain, but the linebacker showed good hustle sticking with the play and helping make the tackle down the field.
Early in the third quarter, Jones was blocked out of a goal line play by a reserve tight end, allowing the back to get into the end zone virtually untouched. Jones was just one of many problems on this play, unfortunately.
