Kevin Gorman: After overcoming adversity, Tevin Jones hopes to stick with Steelers

Tevin Jones planned to celebrate his two-touchdown performance in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason finale with a phone call to his family to catch up and send a simple but not-so-subtle request.

Don’t call me.

Jones didn’t want any false alarms Friday as he awaited word of if he would survive the cut when the Steelers reduced their training camp roster to 53 players by 4 p.m. on Saturday.

“To tell the truth, I really do not know,” Jones said after the Steelers’ 39-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night at Heinz Field. “It’s very hard to be in this situation, but that’s football. …

“I don’t know how it’s going to be this go-round. Last time, was kind of hard because I didn’t know if I could go home or not.”

At this time a year ago, Jones was more worried about his family than his fate with the Kansas City Chiefs. Hurricane Harvey hit his hometown in late August, flooding his neighborhood of League City in southeast Houston.

Worse yet, one of his mentors went missing in the storm. Reuben Jordan, who spent three decades as an assistant football coach and head track and field coach at Clear Creek High, was helping rescue others when he was swept away by the current.

Jordan died Aug. 28, just days before the Chiefs’ final preseason game against the Tennessee Titans. Jones wrote RIP and Jordan in marker on his white cleats as a tribute, then honored his former coach by scoring a 68-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Where that performance couldn’t save Jones — who said the Chiefs allowed him to stay in a hotel for a few days before he headed to his father’s home near Dallas — he’s hoping that he did enough this preseason to prove that he belongs in the NFL.

“I’m just glad to make it this far and to overcome that,” Jones said. “I’ve been through a lot, man. I try not to think about the bad things. I try to focus on the positive things. If anything happens that’s bad, I try to forget about it. I try to focus on the good.”

Jones left a positive impression with the Steelers, scoring on a 27-yard pass from Joshua Dobbs in the first quarter and a 24-yarder from Mason Rudolph in the second. Jones also had a 39-yard catch and finished tied with a team-high three receptions and a game-high 90 yards receiving.

“Tevin is working hard on special teams, offense. He does a lot for the team. He deserved this game, I’ll say that,” receiver Justin Hunter said. “When a man has a lot on his plate and is still able to perform, it says a lot about him and his character. He’s hungry to work.”

So hungry that Jones couldn’t stop himself from dwelling on a few bad plays. He had two drops, including one on a Dobbs pass on second-and-goal at the Carolina 8 that could have been a third touchdown. But the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder from Memphis showed the Steelers he was willing and capable of playing all of the receiver positions, including the slot.

“I wish he’d caught my touchdown pass to him — the second one — so he did a good job bouncing back from that,” Dobbs said. “He’s making plays and catching a lot of balls — I think you guys all saw that — but he’s been doing a lot of that stuff throughout camp.

“He’s a guy that’s extremely confident, a really smart guy who’s been around. It was always cool throwing to him because I knew he’s a really strong body who can make that contested catch and really knew what he was doing at every position.”

Jones doesn’t know what the Steelers are going to do at his position. He doesn’t know if he will survive the final cut. He doesn’t know if he will be released and clear waivers, if he will make a 53-man roster or get signed to a practice squad.

What he does know is that he overcame adversity to have a shot.

And he counts that as a victory.

“Every day I go out there is a fight,” Jones said. “I don’t take any day for granted. I try to put my best foot forward, no matter if I’m going to have 1,000 plays or one play. I feel like I could’ve done more. I left a little bit out there. I’m just glad I got a chance to be a Steeler.”

The Steelers are the one phone call Jones will accept.

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.