Broderick Jones Continues to Impress Mike Tomlin

UNITY TWP., Pa. — Not everything is easy when you are the first-round pick of the Steelers and one that they traded up for on top of that. But Broderick Jones has taken most of that in stride. Having experienced winning environments at Georgia, Jones knows what to expect in the NFL and what the team will ask of him moving forward. But moreover, than that, he took some lumps against the Buccaneers and seems to be applying those lessons to the in-practice reps.

Broderick Jones had maybe his best week of practice following the game. No one was able to get one up on the rookie, and Jones seemed more confident. Dan Moore has embraced Jones and the mentorship that comes with the first-round pick, and that has aided the growth process for Jones. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin notices those traits in Jones, and is happy with where the first-round pick is going. It could be an uphill battle for Jones to start over Moore at this point, but he still has two game opportunities to prove what he can do.

“I thought he did a really nice job for a first-time out,” Tomlin said. “I thought he played with energy and played with finish. And oftentimes when a guy is in his first opportunity and is worried about assignment, some of those things are lost. It’s really good to see him play with physicality and finish, and it’s reasonable to expect him to take a significant jump this week and into the next, and what happens over the course of the next two weeks will probably determine that component of that discussion that you just mentioned.”

Going up against a guy like Nick Herbig each day has aided Jones in that development. Over the past week, those two have put together some of the best battles in the lineman one-on-one drills. Now, how much will Jones have to grow to get onto the football field? That will be determined by the level of play of Moore and the speed of Jones’ growth. But the signs are there that Jones has the arrow pointing up.