Mike Tomlin sends a clear message to Steelers LT Broderick Jones after his Week 1 performance against the New York Jets
He knows what has to be done.
The Pittsburgh Steelers may have won the game against the New York Jets, but there is a lot to clean up, on both sides of the ball. The defense is a whole other story, but the left tackle position was a mess throughout Sunday.
Broderick Jones was downright bad. He just didn’t look comfortable, which is to be expected given that he’s never really played a full game of left tackle in the NFL. Mike Tomlin, Broderick Jones and the rest of the Steelers know that has to change. . .
“It could be better, but certainly all of our performances could be better,” said Tomlin when asked of Jones’ performance. “As I mentioned, our quarterback got hit too much, and he was a component of that.”
Mike Tomlin is not worried about Broderick Jones’ confidence
“I do not. . .because it’s football,” said Tomlin when asked if he was worried about Jones’ confidence. “You don’t get to the National Football League by being fragile emotionally. There’s a lot of confident guys that I work with. You win some battles. You lose some battles. You come back fighting. That’s just the nature of the men that play this game at this level.”
Watching the game live, I thought it was clear that Jones was struggling. He looked out of sorts, but I thought a lot of his struggles came down to what was happening with the coverage. That perhaps Rodgers was holding onto the ball for a tad too long.
That couldn’t have been further from the truth.
When you turn on the tape, you see a player who struggled with power, with getting his hands up, with getting his shoulders square to the pass rusher. Jones finished the game with four pressures allowed and three sacks allowed, earning 54.5 grade per PFF, though the grade should be taken with a grain of salt.
Part of me says be patient, give him time and let’s not forget this was his first real experinece at LT in the NFL.
The other part of me says, let’s get the ball rolling here.
I know he was a LT with the Georgia Bulldogs and I know he’s played two years in Pittsburgh. But all those habits he learned at RT, he has to unlearn them now at LT. All of the work he needed coming out of Georgia to be a stable left tackle, well that timeline is just starting.
And to be quite honest with you, the Steelers only have themselves to blame for that.
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