Steelers Now
A former starter of the Pittsburgh Steelers has found a new home.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers veteran safety Juan Thornhill has signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad after clearing waivers last week, according to ESPN insider Adam Schefter.
Thornhill, 30, joined the Steelers on a one-year deal in March as part of the team’s secondary makeover. He played in nine games for Pittsburgh and made one start at free safety, but found himself out of a job after the team moved defensive back Jalen Ramsey to that position.
“It’s been real Pittsburgh,” Thornhill wrote on his Instagram story with peace sign emoji and a praying hands emoji.
Over the last three weeks of Thornhill’s tenure with the Steelers, he only recorded two total tackles and had only been used on special teams as the team added safety Kyle Dugger via a trade with the New England Patriots and slid Ramsey to the back end as injuries piled up.
Head coach Mike Tomlin explained why Thornhill was first benched and then released as Pittsburgh had the opportunity to claim rookie Sebastian Castro on waivers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“The play (by Thornhill) wasn’t up to snuff,” Tomlin said. “And Castro was available to us, and we went through the team development process with Castro. We thought he had a good camp, good preseason, and he played his tail off in that practice against the Bucs. That’s why they stole him from us and we had an opportunity to reacquire him. It was an opportunity to get him back.”
A second-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019, Thornhill has registered 375 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, 25 passes defensed, eight interceptions and one touchdown while winning a pair of Super Bowl rings in his professional career.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Recently-Released Steelers Starter Signs With AFC Contender
