He didn’t get off to a good start in training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, but it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Pittsburgh Steelers’ left tackle Broderick Jones was a perfect example of that saying.
Shaking off a rough start to training camp in which he looked rough at left tackle in his move back to the position after two years at right tackle, and then dealing with a groin injury, Jones closed training camp strong for the Black and Gold and is very clearly an arrow-up guy leading up to the start of the regular season.
That slow start, along with the groin injury that kept him limited for a few days, raised some real concerns about the Year 3 outlook for Jones. Once the pads came on though, Jones looked like a different player. He carried that play over into the preseason opener against the Jaguars, and has done nothing but stack good days in recent weeks.
For head coach Mike Tomlin, who spoke with Steelers.com’s Bob Labriola Saturday morning ahead of the home preseason matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium, all Jones needed was good-on-good work.
“He needed good-on-good work, and that aids growth and development. He got it,” Tomlin said of Jones, according to Steelers.com. “Obviously, we’ve got some quality edge people, particularly in our first group defensively, guys like T.J., Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig. Part of our approach to getting better is Steelers vs. Steelers, meaning we go good-on-good in team development. We just believe in that. Some organizations will go 2s vs. 1s, and 1s vs. 2s in an effort to aid development that way. I’m not judging that course of action, but we’re a 1s vs. 1s, 2s vs. 2s type of a group.
“I just think that approach to business really aids his growth and development, because he gets to see some top flight edge rushers each and every day. He did, and he performed very well against them.”
Getting the chance to go against the likes of Alex Highsmith, T.J. Watt, Nick Herbig and rookie Jack Sawyer in the practice settings helped Jones continue to work on his craft, doing so against maybe the best pass rushers not named Myles Garrett that he’ll see this season.
Though he had his hands full early in camp, struggling especially against Highsmith, particularly with speed and inside counters, Jones turned things around once the pads came on.
Offensive line coach Pat Meyer praised Jones for his attention to details and doing all of the little things right, which coincided with his strong play in training camp down the stretch, while assistant GM Andy Weidl recently called Jones and “arrow-up” gy for the Black and Gold.
The move back to left tackle might have been challenging early on for Jones, even though he downplayed it all offseason. But it was a new side for him with new footwork and hand usage compared to what he was used to at right tackle. Sometimes it just takes time and reps to get comfortable again.
Jones appears to be comfortable now, and he’s playing with confidence. That’s a great sign for the Steelers moving forward as Jones is a key piece of the offensive line that a lot is riding on. That good-on-good action in training camp should have him more than prepared for the week-to-week matchups he’ll deal with as the blindside protector for Aaron Rodgers.
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