With LT Dan Moore Jr. sidelined for yesterday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens because of a knee injury, it set up rookie OT Broderick Jones to log his first start of his NFL career.
Jones saw most of the action against the Houston Texans the previous week as Moore went down with the injury eight plays into the game. While Jones basically played a full game against the Texans, he said yesterday was different because of the week that preceded his first NFL start.
“I feel like there is a difference coming off the bench and actually like starting the game off,” Jones told the media via video from Post-Gazette Sports’ YouTube channel. “You could just feel the difference in the whole intensity of the game. Like, it starts with practice, because since I’m a one now, I get more reps. I see a lot of different things, so just having that, it helped a lot too.”
Jones played 51 offensive snaps against the Texans compared to 66 snaps against the Ravens. Having a full week to prepare as the starter indeed made a difference between starting the game compared to coming off the bench early in the first quarter. The week before, Jones likely got a limited number of snaps in practice with Moore still manning the first-string left tackle spot throughout the week, only to get thrown in when Moore went down in Houston.
Jones was also asked if sitting on the bench the first few weeks of the season helped his development, giving him more time to learn the offense and prepare for when his number was called against the Texans.
“I feel like it helped a lot,” Jones said. “I was really raw when I came in, but Coach Pat [Meyer], coach Isaac [Williams], they did a great job just having me work on one specific thing each and every week to get better at. They weren’t trying to overload me with just trying to push me to do everything at once. So, I feel like that was a big asset to me.”
Meyer has always been known as a teacher, working with his offensive linemen to nail down the fundamentals and technique to the point where they can execute at a high level. RG James Daniels struggled initially executing Meyer’s techniques and schemes, but the two continued to work on it to the point where Daniels was easily Pittsburgh’s best offensive lineman last year. Jones mentioned having the same experience with Meyer in rookie minicamp, stating that Meyer had Jones focus on drilling down the details to better refine his raw, yet promising game.
Coming out of Georgia, Jones needed some time to acclimate to the NFL game as his pass protection needed work to better handle NFL pass rushers. He looked shaky against the Texans last week, but improved as the game went on. He looked noticeably better in his first start against the Ravens. We will do a full film room breakdown on Jones, but Jones’ focus on the details and his consistent work with Meyer and Williams seems to be paying off as he waited his turn and seized the opportunity when it presented itself.
