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FRANK PASTORJonathan Ordway and Tramain Jones solidified the Storm's secondary ... for one game at least.
Jonathan Ordway isn't assuming anything.
Not after spending most of last season on the Storm's practice squad and certainly not playing a position where one bad day could cost him his job.
So while his performance in last week's 40-37 victory over Philadelphia would seem to warrant a second start today at New Orleans, the second-year defensive specialist takes nothing for granted.
"You never know," Ordway said. "We've got great talent, and (coach Tim Marcum) likes to rotate guys. I'm never going to make that mistake and assume what he is going to do because there's no telling."
Ordway and Tramain Jones started in place of Del Lee and Shea Showers last week as Tampa Bay tried to shore up one of the league's lowest-ranked passing defenses.
The new-look secondary allowed 221 passing yards, 37 fewer than the average permitted in three previous games. Tampa Bay entered the game ranked 17th in the 19-team league in passing defense (257.7 yards per game) and next-to-last in points allowed (167).
Jones, a fifth-year receiver/defensive back, had a team-leading 41/2 tackles and one breakup in his first start at defensive specialist. He appeared to get beat deep twice, but Marcum said the Storm was in zone coverage each time and Jones wasn't at fault. Ordway made three tackles and two pass breakups.
"He's coming on," Marcum said. "He's working hard. He had a solid performance.
"I think Tramain can get better. He needs to play. He's a guy who's been around a long time but hasn't played a whole lot."
Ordway, 25, and Jones, 28, played alongside one another last season but mostly on the practice field. Though they continue to adjust to each other's games, they said the familiarity they developed in practice helped ease the transition to the playing field.
"Any time you get to play with someone for a period of time, you get a feel for them," Jones said. "But practice and a game are two different things. You're able to talk more in practice, so everything works well. But everything in a game happens so fast. If you don't have a feel for how he plays or what's going on, you can get confused back there."
Quick-developing plays, forward motion and a short field make it especially difficult to cover receivers. To survive, defensive backs have to be aware of their angles and be able to bounce back after allowing touchdowns.
"Whatever happens, you've just got to come back like it never happened," the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Jones said. "If you linger on that, more and more are going to come."
As a receiver/defensive back, Jones could erase a bad play from his mind by going out on offense and making one of his own. But as a defensive specialist, he has to wait longer.
After spending so much time on the sideline last season, Ordway, a 1997 Armwood graduate, wondered whether he would get a chance to play at all.
"It can be somewhat frustrating, but I'm a team player," the 5-10, 185-pound Ordway said. "I always felt I could have contributed and helped the team out last year, but that's not my decision."
To get more experience, Ordway left Tampa to play in the Canadian Football League after the Storm's first playoff game last season. Though he had to watch the ArenaBowl on television, he said he benefited from the 10 games he played in Ottawa.
"Up there, I had opportunities to start and play in games," Ordway said. "In practice, you can do all the stuff you want, but game situations, you can't simulate that. And that's when you actually get better. So I got a lot of reps in, and it was a great experience."
He hopes to get another opportunity today.