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Steelers want a rotation at outside linebacker

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Steelers outside linebacker Jarvis Jones is currently listed as a starter on the depth chart. Jones is one of four outside linebackers - Arthur Moats, James Harrison and rookie Bud Dupree are the others - competing for two starting positions on the Steelers defense.

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Steelers linebacker Bud Dupree will get his first opportunity against NFL competition Sunday when Pittsburgh plays Minnesota.

LATROBE – Rotations are great for baseball, but in football, if you’re using a rotation of players, it’s usually because there’s not a true starter or there’s more than one player capable of starting.

The Steelers hope they have more of the latter than the former.

As the team nears completion of its second week of training camp at Saint Vincent College, it still plans on using a rotation of its top four outside linebackers – Jarvis Jones, Arthur Moats, James Harrison and Bud Dupree.

“The plans haven’t changed. They can,” said Steelers outside linebackers coach Joey Porter. “But I haven’t seen a reason why.”

The key might be the 37-year-old Harrison, who is just a few months younger than Porter.

The Steelers have continued to hold Harrison out of practice at training camp. Harrison had 5 1/2 sacks – the most among the linebackers – in limited playing time last season after being talked out of retirement following an early-season injury to Jones.

“I still want to take care of James,” said Porter, who played with Harrison. “We’re months apart.

“I remember when I was in Year 13. I remember that if I had been smart, how that could have helped me. I know he’s a workout warrior and he’s going to be ready. We have a good understanding of how we’re going to do things.”

Currently, Moats and Jones are listed as the starting outside linebackers with Harrison and Dupree, the Steelers’ top pick in this year’s draft, as the backups.

When the season begins, who plays will depend on several factors.

“You gotta play the hot hand,” said Moats, who had four sacks in a part-time role last season. “If you go out there in the first quarter and get two sacks, you’re playing the whole game.

“The thing I like about us rotating is it’s going to make us compete against each other and make us a better defense. If I’m worrying about I don’t any type of tackles or any sacks and you’re going to come off the bench, then I have to make sure that I’m coming right back just as hard. It’s going to make us more productive and make us all better.”

With the Steelers intent on limiting Harrison to 20 to 25 snaps per game, getting production out of Jones, the team’s top pick in the 2013 draft, is a must.

Jones, who had 14 1/2 sacks in his final season at Georgia, looked lost at times as a rookie and missed more than half of last season after suffering a fractured wrist and ligament damage in a Week 3 win at Carolina. He had two sacks in the first three games but wasn’t 100 percent when he returned later in the year.

“I still haven’t gotten all my motion back in it,” said Jones, adding he continues to rehab the wrist. “They said it still will take a couple of more months before I still get my full range of motion back. But I don’t have any problems with it. There was a lot of scar tissue and we’re still cleaning that up.”

Jones missed some training camp practices with a biceps contusion but has been working hard to improve.

He arrived in training camp a little bigger than the 245 pounds at which he is listed and feels the added strength should help him as he enters his third NFL season, the point at which a player can be labeled a bust if things don’t work out.

“He’s doing the things that he’s supposed to do,” Porter said. “He knows what’s expected of him. He knows what year this is for him. It’s a big year, so he’s ready. We’re all anxious. We want to see what it looks like when we’re going against different people.”

That will come Sunday when the Steelers open their preseason schedule against the Minnesota Vikings.

While Harrison and a number of the team’s other more established players won’t play, the outside linebacker rotation will be watched. Can Moats and Jones make a splash as the starters? How will Dupree hold up in his first action against another NFL team?

The Steelers want to stick with their rotation plans.

“Look at Buffalo and the success they have had,” said Moats, “They rotate. A lot of teams in the league, they rotate because they stay fresh, and when you’re fresh, you’re a lot better.”

The Steelers placed tight end Rob Blanchflower on the Waived/Injured List and signed tight end Ray Hamilton, who had been released by Dallas. Hamilton played at Iowa. … Linebacker Vince Williams left practice early Thursday with a hamstring injury. … Head coach Mike Tomlin said safety Robert Golden, who was carted off the field in practice Wednesday, had no structural damage to his knee and should be back at some point in training camp. Golden suffered a sprained MCL. … The Steelers will practice at 2:55 p.m. today. It is open to the public.

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