The Pittsburgh Steelers placed starting rookie right tackle Troy Fautanu on injured reserve, the team announced on Saturday. He’ll be out at least the next four weeks.
Broderick Jones will start in Fautanu’s place on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. Jones confirmed Fautanu’s injury after practice on Friday and said he would be getting an MRI. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Fautanu will be sidelined indefinitely, which suggests it’s a multi-week injury or season-ending.
“Troy had a little tweak today,” Jones said. “We really don’t know what his status is gonna be. But I filled in for him and we’re just gonna roll from there. After he gets his MRI and stuff, we’ll just figure out what’s going on from there. The coaches are going to make the decision and go from there. We’ve got two days. He’s got a day break to rest whatever it is. I really don’t even know what happened to him. I ain’t seen it. We’ll figure it out and go from there.”
Fautanu had a standout performance in his first career start against Denver last Sunday. He allowed no pressure and went unbeaten across 29 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
Fautanu had just recovered from an MCL sprain on his left knee, and had still been wearing a brace at practice, even though he was cleared to play.
The Steelers are dealing with a bunch of injuries across their offensive line. Center/guard Nate Herbig is out for the season with a rotator cuff injury, tackle Dylan Cook is on the injured reserve list with a foot injury and starting left guard Isaac Seumalo is out with a pectoral injury.
“We’ll figure it out,” Jones said. “I’ve been there before. It ain’t nothing new. It ain’t nothing mystical. Just gotta get out there and do it whenever my name is called.”
Jones was flagged three times in a six-play span before being benched against the Denver Broncos last Sunday. He took accountability for his poor performance and hopes to bounce back this week.
“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 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 George Pickens and Justin Fields after his holding penalty that wiped out a 51-yard gain. So both publicly and privately, Jones has taken responsibility for not playing up to his or the Steelers’ standard.
Jones will get a chance at redemption on Sunday.
Alan Saunders contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.