With the return of third-year left tackle Dan Moore Jr. to the practice field coming out of the Week Six bye week after dealing with a sprained MCL, it remains unclear who the starting left tackle is for the Pittsburgh Steelers moving forward.
At least, that’s what rookie left tackle Broderick Jones said to reporters Wednesday from inside the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side.
“We still don’t know yet,” Jones said to reporters when asked who will start on Sunday, according to video via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski on Twitter.
Wednesday is a big preparation day for the Steelers ahead of their Week Seven road trip to take on the Los Angeles Rams, so some clarity should be provided today for the players involved.
However, head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t commit to a starter Tuesday during his weekly press conference coming out of the bye week.
“That’s a big if,” Tomlin said when asked if Moore will start if he’s healthy enough to play. “We’ve got some work ahead of us. He’ll be given an opportunity to show his progress over the course of the week and we’ll make that decision at the appropriate time. It doesn’t behoove us to make hypothetical statements at the early portions of the week. He looked pretty good yesterday. We’ll see [where the] week leads us.”
Moore returned to the practice field Monday, albeit in a limited capacity, getting some first-team reps in the process. What that looked like exactly is unknown though, as the Steelers didn’t have to put out an injury report for Monday, and it was the first day back from the bye week.
Typically, Tomlin doesn’t like to take a starting job away from veterans due to injury, but the Steelers have seen Moore struggle when healthy this season. He’s allowed 14 total pressures and a sack on the season and currently holds a 29.3 overall grade offensively, including a 19.9 pass blocking grade and a 42.2 run blocking grade. In his career, Moore has allowed 66 total pressures and 15 sacks.
In his first career start in Week Five against the Baltimore Ravens, Jones was rather solid, turning in the second-highest grade of all first-round rookie offensive tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.
Playing 66 snaps against the Ravens, Jones allowed just one pressure in 38 pass blocking reps, good for a game of 67.0, and graded out well as a run blocker with a 77.2 grade in that category from PFFocus in 28 snaps.
From an outside view, it seems pretty clear what the Steelers should do at left tackle. They traded up to land Jones for a reason, and Moore has struggled quite a bit in his career. But, for now it’s entirely unclear what the Steelers are going to do at left tackle against the Rams.
