Steelers News
Broderick Jones Brushes Off Elbow Injury, Says He Needs to Play Better
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones has had a tumultuous start to his 2024 season, but he’s not blaming his elbow injury or flipping sides on the offensive line. He said he just has to play better.
Jones allowed two sacks and two pressures in Saturday night’s preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills. He got absolutely destroyed by Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau on one of the sacks. Jones was very late on his punch.
“Just got to be better,” Jones said. “For me, for us as an offense, I feel like we’re trying to get the extra emphasis on starting fast and being physical. For me, I feel like I didn’t set the tone from the beginning of the game. I just got to continue to get better every day.”
Broderick Jones has worn a brace on his right elbow since the second week of training camp, but he says the injury is nothing major.
“I’m as healthy as I’m going to get with the season coming up,” Jones said. “Everybody is always playing with some minor injury that they got to push through it. I play O-line. It’s a physical brand of football here in Pittsburgh Pa., so everybody is going to have their nicks and bruises.”
He added, “It’s multiple things” when asked if the elbow injury is affecting his play. He admitted that wearing a brace is an adjustment, but it’s not an excuse.
“It’s not the brace,” Jones said. “The guys may think it is, but there’s nothing wrong with the brace. It’s me being able to lock in with football and just continue to grow as a player and trust in my game.
“We say, ‘Control what you can control.’ That’s out of my control,” Jones added about wearing a brace. “That’s just something I have to play through. Hopefully, one day, I’ll be able to take it off and don’t have to wear it, but you never know.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is looking forward to seeing how Jones responds to the bad performance against Buffalo.
“I think the next performance is an indication of that,” Tomlin said. “There is a process in terms of getting better. You analyze, you acknowledge, you make another plan to get ready for the next opportunity. But ultimately, responses are gauged by the next performance.”
Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith loves Jones’ mindset. He has full confidence that he’ll bounce back.
“I think most people at this point, once you get through the first practice, somebody’s dealing with something, maybe more than others. If somebody out there is medically cleared, I don’t look at it like that with Broderick [Jones],” Smith said. “Like I said, any lineman, whatever position, whatever scheme, if you get beat early, that’s the issue. So with linemen, and that’s the thing is, we can all see in the stands. If you get beat early and inside, clearly that’s a one on one, but he’s out there and going against a good player.
“The other ones, I don’t think necessarily. There’s some other things that came up that led to those sacks. So it’s not all on one person. I’ve got a lot of confidence in Broderick. He’s a young player. Again, because of our issues at potentially swing tackle, we’ve got another rookie tackle, so there’s a lot moving on. I think what he did last year was one of the more impressive things I’ve seen with a guy coming into the league, very young, didn’t play a ton at Georgia, and he stepped in. I believe you guys were here on a short week and he played right tackle on a Thursday night game. It’s pretty damn impressive. But I love his mindset. You know, he’s another guy who doesn’t run away from the fight. And that’s what you love about him, guys that want to get out there and get better.”
Jones knows that he has to figure things out.
“When I was at Georgia, I was always stuck in my ways and my head,” he said. “I feel like I’ve grown in that manner. I’ve taken the coaching and asked different players what their routine is on game day. I feel like I have to figure out what works for me and just continue to grow.”
RELATED: Should Steelers Be Worried about Broderick Jones?
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.