The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2020 season is now in the books. It ended in spectacular fashion — though the wrong kind of spectacular — in a dismal postseason defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Browns, sending them into an early offseason mode after going 12-4 in the regular season and winning the AFC North for the first time in three years.
Since then, they have lost several players in free agency who were key members of the offense and defense. Multiple starters retired, as well. They made few notable additions in free agency, and are banking on contributions on offense from their rookies, as well as perhaps a last ride for Ben Roethlisberger.
The only thing facing them now as they head into 2021 is more questions. Right now, they lack answers. They know that they have Roethlisberger for one more year, but was that even the right decision? How successful can Najee Harris be behind a questionable offensive line? What kind of changes can Matt Canada and Adrian Klemm bring to the offense? And how can the defense retain the status quo with the losses of Bud Dupree, Steven Nelson, and Mike Hilton?
These are the sorts of questions we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football is a year-round pastime and there are always questions to ask, though there is rarely a concrete answer. This is your venue for exploring the topics we present through all of their uncertainty.
Question: Will the Steelers address the Jarron Jones situation?
Generally speaking, it’s a bad idea to get yourself arrested in nearly any context. It’s especially bad when you’re a fringe practice squad candidate. Getting arrested twice is only that much worse; that’s the situation in which first-year Steelers offensive lineman Jarron Jones (#79) finds himself.
The Notre Dame product was arrested back in October stemming from a domestic violence incident in which he was initially accused of strangling his partner and making terroristic threats. He recently had some charges dropped from that incident in a preliminary hearing last month. But he was also re-arrested stemming from another domestic violence incident with his partner from September.
Jones has a hearing on July 27, which is about a week into training camp. At the time of his original arrest, he was on the Steelers’ practice squad. They never made a move to release him. The original incident also already occurred during the regular season last year.
It is quite common for players in Jones’ shoes to have gotten themselves released by now. Just ask Kameron Kelly of the 2019 53-man roster. It is unclear what distinguishes the two situations in a way that resulted in one being released and the other being re-signed. With the news of a second incident, one wonders if the team will finally be forced to address Jones’ behavior he’s been accused of when they get to training camp.
