NFL Network Just Reported...

[Flasteel]

Jarvis Jones is practicing today. They didn't state whether he was a full-participant or not (I would imagine not), but this report runs counter to what I have been reading. I thought he wasn't close to practicing yet.

[K Train]

Jarvis Jones is practicing today. They didn't state whether he was a full-participant or not (I would imagine not), but this report runs counter to what I have been reading. I thought he wasn't close to practicing yet.

Hes been close, but he was eligible for practice 3 weeks ago and couldnt because his wrist wasnt strong enough.

If he practicing even limted the prospects of him playing down the stretch look pretty good. Sometimes strength can be regained quickly through PT, sometimes not as much

[Oviedo]

He gets a few weeks of practice and then the team has to make a decision to bring him back or shelf him for the year. Last I read it may be the latter.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Jarvis Jones returning to practice this week

Posted by Josh Alper on November 24, 2014, 11:02 AM EST

The Steelers are returning from their bye week on Monday and they’ll have one more body on the practice field than they had last week.

Bob Labriola of the team’s website reports that Jones will return to practice on Monday, opening up a three-week window for him to practice before the team would have to decide whether to activate him from injured reserve. It doesn’t have to take that long, however, and Jones is eligible to play as soon as this Sunday if the team deems him ready.

Jones needed to have wrist surgery after getting injured in a win over the Panthers in Week Three, one of several key injuries that have provided obstacles on defense for the Steelers this season. His loss helped lead the Steelers to coax James Harrison out of retirement, a decision that has brought them 18 tackles and four sacks in Jones’s absence.

That’s one more sack than Jones has managed in his first 17 NFL games, something that the Steelers would surely like to see their 2013 first-round pick improve on as they try to make the playoffs.

[URL]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/11/24/jarvis-jones-returning-to-practice-this-week/[/URL]

[SidSmythe]

Just read on TWITTER that Ike Taylor plans on Starting Sunday but also read that it would ultimately be the coaches decision.

[steelsnis]

[URL]https://twitter.com/markkaboly_trib/status/536949556358156288[/URL]

@MarkKaboly_Trib: Jarvis Jones went thru close to a full practice. Wearing brace on wrist. Even fell on it a couple times. Still needs custom cast made.

[hawaiiansteel]

Jarvis Jones returns to practice, has three weeks to be added to 53-man roster

By Neal Coolong on Nov 24 2014



The Steelers are looking at the possible return of OLB Jarvis Jones at the latest by the team's Week 15 game vs. the Atlanta Falcons.

He's not far off now.

Steelers outside linebacker was placed on IR-Designated to Return after the team's Week 3 win over the Carolina Panthers. A wrist injury and subsequent surgery have kept him off of the practice field until today.

Jones beginning to practice means the team now has three weeks in which he can practice and be activated from the list at any point during that time. If he's not activated after that three-week period, though, he'll be placed on injured reserve, thus ending his season.

Steelers right guard David DeCastro was placed on IR-Recall in 2012 and he came back two weeks after he began practicing, starting his first game in Week 15. Jones would be set for a return no later than the team's Week 16 game at home against the Kansas City Chiefs - he would have to be activated Dec. 15 and be eligible to play in the team's game the following weekend. The Steelers play the Atlanta Falcons in Week 15, not very far from where Jones excelled as an All-American outside linebacker at the University of Georgia.

The Steelers' defense has been quietly improving during the past few weeks, particularly their front seven. The addition of a healthy Jones to that group would provide them the depth they simply haven't had at the outside linebacker position all year.

There was a point when the Steelers fiddled a bit with Jones playing more of an inside linebacker position in nickel packages and on passing downs. It would be interesting to see if Jones can contribute in a similar capacity while keeping James Harrison and Jason Worilds on the field.

Time will tell when Jones will be ready to play and, technically, it might be this weekend against the Saints. The Steelers will also find out today whether cornerback Ike Taylor, injured in the same game against the Panthers, will be able to play this weekend. Linebacker Ryan Shazier and safety Troy Polamalu are both expected to return this weekend against the Saints.

[URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/nfl-pittsburgh-steelers-news/2014/11/24/7275611/seelers-jarvis-jones-injury-report-status-ir-recall-rules-eligibility[/URL]

[feltdizz]

Jones looks pretty big in that photo with Timmons

also looks a little gay with the lower hand placement

not that there is anything wrong with that

[Discipline of Steel]

I think that hand was placed there to ensure continued separation and distance.

[hawaiiansteel]

Column: Steelers’ defense could use real upside

NOVEMBER 25, 2014
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS



Ryan Shazier and Jarvis Jones both have missed the Steelers’ past eight games to injury. — GETTY IMAGES

“Gang’s all here!” Ike Taylor fairly shouted as the Steelers strode off their South Side fields Monday.

The picture was thousand-words perfect, too.

It was the first practice since saying bye-bye to the bye week.

The first step toward bracing for Drew Brees and the Saints next weekend.

The first chance to focus on the challenge of rising above in the airtight AFC North.

And above all, the first time in two months and two days that Troy Polamalu, Ryan Shazier, Jarvis Jones and Taylor partook in drills together.

A third of the starting defense.

“Imagine that,” Jones would say afterward. “Crazy, huh?”

Yeah, it is, actually. And maybe it’s been forgotten in all the week-to-week angst over what’s ailed the defense that, well, it sure helps to have all the players you’d like to have. Or even most of them.

That’s not to suggest all of those players will be ready for New Orleans. More will be known after Mike Tomlin’s Tuesday press conference — obviously — but the initial indications are that Polamalu and Shazier have the best shot, with Jones and Taylor behind and Steve McLendon still not suiting up for practice.

Hey, it’s a start. Right, gentlemen?

It’s probably smart to start with those two, Shazier and Jones, since, theoretically, their losses should be felt so much harder given that they’re the franchise’s past two first-round picks.

That’s should.

Shazier, the first-rounder this summer, was felled by a sprained knee Sept. 21 at Carolina, then again by a high ankle sprain Nov. 2 against the Ravens. He has played about a quarter of the Steelers’ defensive snaps with 198, but he’s been solid when out there: with 19 tackles, five assists and six stops. That grades to slightly above average for any NFL inside linebacker.

Just as important, Shazier’s steadiness afforded Lawrence Timmons more leeway to stunt at Dick LeBeau’s whim. If Timmons hasn’t seemed as noticeable in recent weeks, don’t overthink it. He’s been asked to hold down the middle, stop the run and smile, nothing more.

As Shazier put it, “One of the best things about having everybody coming back is what it does for depth.”

There’s zero chance he spoke that as a slight to Sean Spence, but that’s still the broader, harder truth: Shazier’s 0.6 grade from Pro Football Focus is miles above Spence’s minus-4.1, and that’s almost entirely because of Spence’s poor pass coverage. Tomlin and LeBeau have turned to Vince Williams more often, but Williams isn’t Shazier, either. Having Shazier’s phenomenal-for-his-position speed affords so many additional approaches, not just to cover but to attack.

Then there’s the minor matter of Shazier’s sanity.

“Man … I can’t even …” he said. “It’s been frustrating. It has. I’m ready to go, believe me.”

Jones’ stability has been tested, as well, since his wrist required surgery following that same game in Charlotte where Shazier’s knee buckled. He feared that night leaving the locker room his season was done. He’d heard multiple timetables. He was placed on the NFL’s recently created injured reserve/designated to return list, meaning he was required to miss eight games and, upon returning to practice, would have only three weeks to show he can play.

That clock started ticking Monday, but it didn’t sound as if Jones needed any alarm.

“I was so nervous today. Stayed up all last night. I felt like my whole body was tensing up,” he said. “But it was a great day. It isn’t fun watching from the sidelines knowing you can’t help your teammates. You want to be a part of that. You want to be able to hit somebody and make plays. I’m glad I was able to get out there. Hopefully, I’ll continue to get better.”

Jones showed serious flashes in his three games, with 14 tackles and two sacks, including the Cam Newton fumble he forced that caused his injury. But unlike Shazier, he didn’t exactly give way to a downgrade: James Harrison has been nothing less than the defense’s highest-graded starter since his return, and that’s despite a slow start. So his return could be gradual, or it could be into a backup role. If I had to guess, Harrison and Jones will wind up in a 60/40 rotation similar to the one in which Arthur Moats has been used.

But that’s fine. Because the immediate benefit could be the same as the ultimate in that the Steelers will get fresh legs and a fresh chance at raising their own defensive ceiling.

Let’s not kid anyone: Even with the Steelers being party to the ridiculous parity in their division — the Ravens’ 34-27 win late Monday in New Orleans put all four teams at seven wins — this is no contender for anything more than a one-and-done playoff unless the defense finds another level.

That’s not going to happen simply through the returns of Polamalu and Taylor, though both will be welcome. So will Shamarko Thomas, who vowed to return Sunday, although that almost surely would be limited to special teams. More is needed. A pleasant surprise is needed. And a younger guy breaking through, the way Cam Heyward and Jason Worilds did last season, offers the most plausible path.

Brought that up with a few players, actually.

“You’re always looking for someone to step up, whether it’s defense or offense,” Antonio Brown told me. “If you look at where we are in the standings, how many games are left, the opportunity that’s there … we all have to step up, but you always love to see the younger guys do that. It’s great for all of us.”

“We’re getting stronger. That’s how we feel,” Le’Veon Bell said. “But we know we need to be stronger.”

[URL]http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/2014/11/25/column-steelers-defense-use-real-upside/[/URL]

[Iron City Inc.]

Injuries let you find out about the quality of your depth. Moats and Spence belong in this league that said they are not Jones n Shazier. As the stretch run comes into play having depth and coaches trusting that depth to keep guys fresh may give us an edge.