The start of the 2024 season hasn’t been a good one for second-year Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones.
Dating back to training camp and the preseason, Jones has had his struggles, including a dreadful showing in the preseason against the Buffalo Bills that raised major concerns. Things bottomed out Sunday in Denver when Jones – in a rotation with rookie Troy Fautanu — played just 11 snaps and was called for three penalties, leading to his benching.
Some have speculated that his struggles have been due in large part to an elbow injury he suffered on the first day of padded practice at training camp. But for former Steelers offensive lineman Trai Essex, who appeared on the 93.7 The Fan Morning Show Tuesday, Jones’ struggles reside in one place: his head.
“It’s mental. It’s all mental,” Essex said of Jones, according to audio via 93.7 The Fan on YouTube. “He’s an athlete. He has every single thing. He’s shown he can play the position albeit he wasn’t really pushed last year at right tackle. But now that he has somebody there pushing him and he hasn’t really made any inroads at left tackle with Dan Moore [Jr.], who has been, I feel like, on every fan’s cutting block for the last two or three years, but he still manages a way to come up and perform and be solid enough that he gives the coaches confidence to keep him blocking on the blind side. So Broderick is on an island by himself and doesn’t quite know where he fits in right now.”
Playing offensive line in the NFL is as much mental as it is physical, just like every other position on the field.
Right now, based on Essex’s observations, that’s where Jones is struggling the most. He’s lacking confidence, doesn’t know where he fits in and is really struggling to find that balance, which in turn is affecting his physical performance.
That was the case Sunday in Denver. Jones had a false start penalty and then two holding calls against him in the span of six snaps, leading to him being benched for the rest of the game.
Afterwards, Jones had some interesting comments to the media, stating he doesn’t feel he deserves to be playing if he’s not starting and that he believes some Broncos defenders flopped, leading to the calls. He’s certainly frustrated right now, and it’s understandable.
It’s been a very difficult second season for him.
But now he gets a chance to reset a bit and get his mind right. He just has to put it together to get out the proverbial doghouse for the Steelers.
“I think that he thought he would be the left tackle and given the position. He hasn’t earned it, obviously,” Essex added regarding Jones. “And at right tackle, he’s getting pushed by a kid who seems, by all accounts, to be hungry and wants to play and who came in and played a good game once he played the rest of the game. So Broderick has some work to do. It looks like he might be in a little bit of the doghouse with [Mike] Tomlin and [Pat] Meyer, and he’s gonna have to show up. I don’t know what else to say because this is definitely mental.
“He has all the physical tools, but for some reason he’s not putting together in practice enough to give the coaches faith to put him in.”
Jones does have all the physical tools. He’s shown that time and time again, during his college days at Georgia and even in his rookie season with the Steelers. He stepped in at right tackle midway through the season and held down the starting job over veteran Chukwuma Okorafor.
But you can only get so far on physical ability alone, and Jones is learning that lesson the hard way this season.
Now, it’s up to him to respond in the proper fashion, get himself right and force his way back into the lineup. Cleaning things up mentally will go a long, long way.
