Everyone can rest easy now as the Pittsburgh Steelers newest player, Jacoby Jones, is safe and sound in town. While Jones’s status for Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders might still be considered to be somewhat in question being as he missed the team’s final practice of the week, at least we now know how he’s listed on the depth chart.
According to Steelers PR man Burt Lauten, Jones is now listed as the team’s primary kick returner and that’s not surprising at all. Additionally, he’s also listed as the co-punt returner alongside Antonio Brown.
While it’s still likely that Jones will dress and play Sunday against the Raiders despite failing to practice yet with his new team, you have to wonder if he’ll do anything more than return kickoffs in the game if given a helmet.
So far this season, Jones hasn’t been great at all when it comes to returning punts as he enters Week 9 with a total of -4 yards on the five that he returned while with the Chargers.
Jones also apparently failed to fair catch a punt in Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens and it resulted in the Chargers defense being pinned deep in their own end as a result. Many believe that was the reason why the Chargers cut him loose late Tuesday.
If Jones somehow winds up being one of the Steelers seven inactive players on Sunday, running back Jordan Todman would likely return kickoffs against the Raiders.
Jones was claimed off waivers from the Chargers by the Steelers on Thursday. The team waived former third-round draft pick Dri Archer to make room for him on the roster.
