The Pittsburgh Steelers are off until Monday. We should not expect to hear from head coach Mike Tomlin until Tuesday as they prepare for the Green Bay Packers, who are coming into town for a Sunday showdown.
Chances are we won’t know before then what the plan is at the tackle positions. And there’s no reason to believe Tomlin won’t try to keep it under wraps as long as possible because there’s no advantage in giving your opponents advance knowledge of your plans.
You see, there are several options the Steelers can toy around with. They could go back to their starting lineup of Dan Moore Jr. and Chukwuma Okorafor on the left and right sides, respectively. Or Broderick Jones could start over Moore. Or he could start over Okorafor—on either the right or left side.
I can’t say what the plan is. And neither can Okorafor. Or Moore. Or Jones. The rookie told reporters about his status as a starter moving forward, “I really don’t know. I’ll come back out these next couple of days, get my body back right, and see what comes”, via the team’s website.
The 14th-overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Jones is destined for the starting lineup. He’s already started two of the first eight games, one at left tackle and one at right, for very different reasons. Yet it’s unclear if he is now a starter or if he will go back to the bench after head coach Mike Tomlin sat Okorafor for what the right tackle suggested was a disciplinary move.
One thing I know is that the fans would not approve of Tomlin keeping Jones out of the starting lineup after he seemingly helped the offense play at a higher level. They had their best game on the ground all year by a good margin and did not allow QB Kenny Pickett to be sacked.
And whether it’s left or right, Jones isn’t particularly concerned with where he lines up. “I just like to play football. They can put me at quarterback if they want to”, he said. “I’m just always ready when my name is called. The boss tells you to do something, you do it. If push comes to shove and have to come back to it and do it again, I’m looking forward to it”.
So is everybody else, except perhaps for whichever of the two loses their starting role for his sake. Although to their credit, both of them have been ready and willing teachers, helping him out whenever possible.
Jones has frequently discussed his relationship with Moore in particular, especially given that he has spent most of his time practicing at left tackle. But Okorafor also talked this week about helping show Jones the ropes as he worked on the right side.
