The Pittsburgh Steelers managed to put up a convincing win against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3. However, it still wasn’t pretty. There were numerous injuries on both sides of the ball, which greatly affected the game. Even before the game started, the Steelers lost Troy Fautanu, their starting right tackle. That left struggling Broderick Jones to fill in, and it seems Mike Tomlin was impressed with his performance.
“As I mentioned at the early portions of the week, I expected him to respond positively and appropriately,” Tomlin said after the game via the team’s YouTube channel. “And he did.”
Jones put in a better effort than he did in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos, but the bar was low. He was penalty-free, which was a nice change, but he still struggled at times. That could probably be said for the offensive line as a whole, though.
Until the fourth quarter, they couldn’t get anything going on the ground. They struggled to protect Justin Fields as well, with Jones in particular losing an ugly rep that didn’t end in a sack only because Fields was able to get rid of the ball. He ended up having an easier matchup because Joey Bosa left the game with an injury, but he still had a hard time winning his matchup.
However, it was still a step forward, and that seems to be what Tomlin wanted to see. He’s going to be the starting right tackle for the foreseeable future, so any step in the right direction is good. He’s still a young player, and there’s no reason to give up on him yet.
Fautanu’s injury provides him with a prime opportunity to prove his worth to the Steelers, too. Although the Chargers dealt with injuries, they’ll still probably end up being one of the best defenses the Steelers face this year. Jones didn’t have an amazing showing, but didn’t look totally outmatched, either.
It’s still unclear how much time Fautanu is going to miss, so we’ll see how many more games Jones will need to start. The Steelers’ current depth at tackle is also extremely thin, so hopefully Jones can stay healthy. With Isaac Seumalo set to return soon, this unit should receive a needed boost. If Jones can pick up his level of play, the Steelers might finally burst the dam on offense.
