The Pittsburgh Steelers attempted to rotate their right tackles today, with rookie Troy Fautanu starting the game and then Broderick Jones coming in to replace him during Pittsburgh’s third series of the game. It was a disastrous drive for Jones though, as he committed three penalties and was pulled before it ended and didn’t return to the game. After the game, Jones talked about the rotation and said if he isn’t starting, he doesn’t think he should be playing.
When asked if he was frustrated about the rotation, he said he wasn’t, but that he doesn’t think he should play if not in the starting lineup.
“Not really. If not starting I really don’t feel like I should be playing. It’s really not a big factor for me,” Jones said via KDKA’s The Extra Point after the game.
Jones said he didn’t know coming into the game how much he would play, but he’s just doing whatever he can to help the team.
“No, I didn’t. I wasn’t really, too much worried about it. I’m just trying to come in and do the best I can for the team. At the end of the day, no matter what it is that they need me to do, I’m trying to do it, so they come up with a great game plan, I just try to stick to the script as best as possible and do what I do,” Jones said via Post-Gazette Sports on YouTube.
Those two points seem to counteract each other, but the main takeaway is that Jones doesn’t think he should be rotating in with Fautanu. Today, it didn’t work out, and the idea of the rotation was quickly abandoned, and with the way Jones played, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was on the bench next week.
The team seems to like Fautanu, and with him fully healthy now he got his first NFL start. He also played much better and more mistake-free than Jones, who also had a shaky preseason and Week 1 effort. It might benefit Jones to spend some time on the bench and continue to develop, as he was a raw prospect coming out of Georgia and then became a starter midway through last season, although at right tackle instead of his natural left tackle spot. He hasn’t developed as the team hoped, which makes him seemingly not wanting to get reps if they come in a rotation a little bit questionable.
Still, even if he doesn’t necessarily agree with the idea of the rotation, Jones will do whatever the team needs from him, so if that includes rotating going forward, that’s what Jones is going to do to help the team win.
He’s still a young guy, only five months older than Fautanu despite being drafted a year earlier, but the fact that he’s seemed to taken a step back so far this season and potentially cost the Steelers points with his penalties today don’t help his case for playing more. And seemingly, he doesn’t want to play more if it comes in a rotation with Fautanu, which doesn’t seem like it will be the plan going forward given the way the Steelers ditched it today.
Even though he’s not that much older than Fautanu, Jones still has an extra year of experience. While he said the penalties were frustrating, he said he stayed active on the bench talking to Fautanu and helping the rookie out.
“I didn’t want to bring negative energy to the sideline with the rest of the team. I just continued to talk to my teammates, talk to Troy, telling him what I see, which I feel like he had a great game. A couple of things he can clean up but for his first start I feel like he did really well,” Jones said via KDKA.
Dan Moore Jr. has been decent so far at left tackle for the Steelers, but he’s had his struggles in the past, and maybe if he struggles again, then Jones can get a look at his natural position. But right now, it seems as if the bench is where Jones will be in the immediate future.
But even though he might not agree with the rotation and might now be a backup, Jones has the right mindset when it comes to being a good teammate, doing what is needed out of him, and helping out Fautanu and the rest of the offensive line. Hopefully, for him and the Steelers, Jones can rebound from his tough start to 2024 and be a contributor for them going forward.
