Much has been made this offseason of the need for the Steelers to see a bigger return on the high draft picks they’ve used on the defensive side of the ball over the last few years.
Linebacker Jarvis Jones is part of that group and he’s one of the players that Pittsburgh is counting on playing a big role in a more effective defense this season. Jones got off to a good start last year, but a wrist injury a few weeks into the season knocked him out for much of the year and Jones didn’t contribute much upon his return to the lineup.
Outside linebackers coach Joey Porter said he thinks that Jones can make an impact and shares what he told Jones about how urgent it is that he make that impact this season.
“The first year was the first year, you don’t judge that,” Porter said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “The second year I thought you started off pretty good. You had two sacks in the first three games and then you got hurt. So they’ll be patient with you then. But please believe they’re counting on you to have a big year this year, they are. You’re going to get scrutinized, I’m going to get scrutinized. I’m going to help you the best I can to play at a high level. You put in the work to prepare yourself to play at a high level, and we’ll go from there.”
Jones says he feels comfortable and “playing a whole lot faster” as he prepares for his third season. As Porter says, that will need to translate to the field or the Steelers will have to start looking elsewhere for a building block of future defenses.