While the film showed an unsurprising up-and-down performance in the NFL debut of Pittsburgh Steelers first-round left tackle Broderick Jones last Friday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, some of the traits that he showed throughout the 27-17 win caught the attention of Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
Speaking with reporters Thursday in his press conference ahead of Saturday’s preseason matchup against the Buffalo Bills at Acrisure Stadium, Tomlin praised Jones for the physicality, energy and finish that he put on display during his 49 snaps against the Buccaneers.
“I thought he did a really nice job for a first time out. I thought he played with energy. I thought he played with finish,” Tomlin said of Jones, according to video via the Steelers official YouTube page. “And oftentimes when a guy is in his first opportunity and he’s worried about assignments, some of those things get lost. So it was really good to see him play with physicality and finish, and it’s reasonable to expect him to take a significant jump this week and into the next and what happens over the course of the next two weeks will determine that component of the discussion.”
As Tomlin points out, when a young player gets into a game they can be so focused on the assignments and not messing those up within plays that they sometimes lose that physicality, energy and overall finish, leading to some struggles. That wasn’t the case with Jones, at least from Tomlin’s point of view.
Jones’ 49 snaps against the Buccaneers were the most on the team, with the rookie playing through the end of the game at left tackle, getting all the reps he could possibly get. Still raw and developing, Jones had an up- and-down night in the eyes of many. The physicality and energy stood out though, earning that praise from Tomlin.
The 49 snaps were a lot for the first preseason game of the year, but he handled it very well from a conditioning standpoint and had some flashes in pass protection and as a run blocker. There were inconsistencies, too.
Coming out of the preseason matchup against the Buccaneers, it was a bit of a mixed bag for Jones. NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger had some critiques about Jones’ hand usage and footwork, and he was not the only one to critique the hand usage. NFL.com’s Chad Reuter highlighted the late hands from Jones in his piece handing out grades to rookies over the weekend, giving Jones a C-.
With the performance having some good and some bad, there’s a lot of work to do for Jones moving forward. That’s not a surprise, and the work only gets done with more reps and more playing time. Therefore, Jones could see a high number of snaps in the next two preseason games as the Steelers continue to develop him and get him up to speed.
The physicality, energy and overall drive to finish reps is what drew the Steelers to Jones, not to mention his measurables and athleticism.
For a debut, it was solid overall from Jones. Having Tomlin backing him with praise so quickly is certainly intriguing, too.
While Dan Moore Jr. has a hold on the starting job for now, Tomlin said that if Jones continues to take significant steps forward with the more experience over the next two weeks, it could help determine the direction the Steelers go at the left tackle position early in 2023.
