It took multiple quarterback injuries for Landry Jones to get his shot for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he took advantage when he did, and now he's expected to get his first career start Sunday in Kansas City.
Steelers preparing for Landry Jones to start vs. Chiefs
Jones led Pittsburgh to an upset of Arizona after replacing injured Mike Vick.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
“It’s safe to prepare as if Landry Jones is our quarterback this week. He’s healthy,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told the media on Tuesday.
“We were not shocked by his performance,” Tomlin said. “We were very pleased by it.”
Vick, who left the game with a strained hamstring, isn't likely to be back in time for the Chiefs game, according to Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network
Talked to Mike Vick. Showed me pic of tiny tear/strain in hamstring. Said he'll test in two days but would guess he's at least a week away
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) October 19, 2015 “It’s hard to simulate a game in practice,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s hard to simulate a rush, getting away from a rush. If I can get out there and I can drop and I can roll out of the pocket and I can make short-area movements and there’s no pain, then that convinces me.”
On Tuesday he told Pittsburgh’s 93.7 The Fan that he plans on splitting first team practice snaps with Jones, but that he’d also make sure that Jones was prepared for the Steelers’ Week 7 game.
“He’s going to need to get all the reps he can,” Roethlisberger said. “So, it’s going to be a feeling out process but I’ll leave that up to the coaches to decide kind of how they’re going to split reps up.”
With Vick not 100 percent and Roethlisberger still sidelined by his sprained MCL, Jones became Mike Tomlin's only option, but he has probably earned a shot at the No. 2 job anyway. Despite a conservative game plan -- Vick is averaging 9.3 yards per completion as opposed to Roethlisberger's 13.6 -- Vick was only completing 60.6 percent of his passes and was sacked on 13.2 percent of his dropbacks.
Jones doesn’t have Vick’s mobility, and he obviously can’t maintain the 21.0 yards per completion that he averaged against the Cardinals, but he gave the Steelers the vertical passing threat that Vick hadn’t been able to provide.
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