Broderick Jones Opens Up about Struggles, Remains Confident in Steelers Long-Term Plan
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones opened up about his struggles, but remains confident in himself for the future.
PITTSBURGH — It wasn’t exactly a secret that second-year Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Broderick Jones didn’t have a great game against the Denver Broncos in Week 2.
Jones played just one series, and not even all of that series, as he was benched after committing three penalties in six plays, costing the team 25 yards in penalties and wiping a 50-yard completion from Justin Fields to George Pickens off the board.
It was one of the main talking points of the game, despite a 13-6 Steelers victory.
So when he was asked about it in front of his locker on Thursday, Jones took the issue about as head-on as possible.
“Shit, I played bad,” he said. “That’s all it is at the end of the day. You fuck up, you get pulled.”
Jones also clarified his postgame comments, when he said he shouldn’t have been in the game. He meant that if Troy Fautanu had earned the right to start the game, Jones feels that he should be allowed to play all of it.
“This is the NFL,” he said. “If somebody’s not hurt or something like that, I just feel like someone should be able to get into their groove and just play throughout the game. … “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I’m just saying it’s something I would rather not do, myself. But whatever Coach T says, you’ve just got to try to uphold that standard and do it to the best of my abilities.”
Jones said that he apologized to Pickens and Fields after his holding penalty wiped out their big play. So both publicly and privately, Jones has taken responsibility for not playing up to his or the Steelers’ standard.
But where do things go from here? The 2023 first-round pick has been passed by rookie Fautanu at right tackle, and Dan Moore doesn’t seem to be relinquishing his grip on the left tackle job any time soon.
“Just going to try to keep getting better every day and try to continue to help the team,” Jones said.
For the long term, Jones feels that the Steelers remain dedicated to getting him back into a starting role.
“They took me in the first round for a reason,” he said. “I never lost confidence and I don’t feel like they lost confidence in me.”
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