Washington (CNN) Multiple members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus say they are "uncomfortable" with the scrutiny growing around whether Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio turned a blind eye to alleged abuse, but those conservatives are taking a "wait and see" approach for the time being, according to one source Monday who is familiar with their thinking.

"The members are taking a wait and see approach," the Republican source told CNN. "They aren't making any judgments on him yet."

The source said Jordan's relationships within the House Freedom Caucus are strong, with his colleagues seeing him as a "good man who was probably just in a bad situation." Jordan, a co-founder of the conservative group, is among the high-profile House Republicans considering a run to replace Speaker Paul Ryan when he retires at the end of his term.

However, there is an acknowledgment that some caucus members are skittish about putting their necks on the line without yet knowing the full story of what happened at Ohio State University.

"It was expressed to me by one member that after Joe Paterno, you never want to go too deep in defending somebody, because you can have somebody who was just almost seen as an otherworldly figure of integrity and then you find out that 'Wow, he really did know more than we thought he did. He really didn't do what he should have done,'" the source told CNN. "And I think that is always going to taint these kind of situations."

Read More