Time spent at Georgia has helped Broderick Jones take patient approach to winning job with Steelers

Joe Rutter | Sunday, August 6, 2023 5:25 p.m.

Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review

Steelers first-round pick Broderick Jones goes through a blocking drill during camp Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023, at Saint Vincent College.

As the first preseason game approaches for the Pittsburgh Steelers, top draft pick Broderick Jones continues to run second string at his position.

Sure, Jones has taken the occasional first-team rep at left tackle in place of Dan Moore, and he worked there exclusively for a day when right tackle Chuks Okorafor was given a breather.

Those are exceptions. Jones has remained the second-team left tackle since the start of offseason workouts, and he has remained there for the first 10 days of training camp.

That’s not good enough for fans who can’t understand why Jones is not starting given the Steelers traded up three spots to select him with the No. 14 overall pick. And their anticipation is heightened when they see other rookies — Joey Porter Jr., Darnell Washington — get more opportunities to work with the first team than Jones.

Jones, though, is content to play the waiting game, displaying a trait he learned not that long ago.

“Georgia,” Jones said when asked where he developed his patience. “The University of Georgia. I really just try to focus on getting better each and every day because if I do that, everything will fall into place. That’s all I try to focus on: my reputation each and every day and being able to provide for the team the best version of me.”

Jones is mindful that when he arrived at Georgia in 2020 as a five-star recruit and arguably the best offensive line prospect in the country, he didn’t immediately get onto the playing field. He had to redshirt as a freshman and didn’t start until the final four games of the 2021 season before emerging as a full-time starter last year.

“That’s how it was at Georgia,” he said. “I didn’t go in and think I was going to win a starting position on reputation. I had to work each and every day for it. I had to keep that same mindset here.”

In individual blocking and team drills, Jones has found himself paired against veteran outside linebacker Markus Golden, the top backup to starters T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. Golden is entering his ninth NFL season, so he is the type of wily veteran who can provide quality repetitions for a rookie prospect.

Golden, though, made it be known that he’s not changing his approach just to help Jones gain experience in pass protection.

“I’m not here to have a role to help people battle,” he said. “Man, I’m here to get better every day because it’s camp. They have to go over there and compete. … It ain’t my role to do anything like that.”

Jones wouldn’t want Golden to treat him any other way.

“That’s what I need,” he said, “someone who is going to push me to get better.”

Jones believes whether he wins or loses his matchups against Golden, he will be a better left tackle because of the competition that is provided. The Steelers open the regular season against some of the NFL’s premier pass rushers in Nick Bosa, Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby. If Jones emerges as a starter by then, he will need all the reps against veterans that he can get.

“With somebody like Markus, you never understand the game until you take it in each and every day,” Jones said. “He has a motor, so that is good for me because I get to see somebody who has been doing it for a number of years, and I get to go up against that every day to prepare me for gameday.”

Since joining the Steelers, Jones has worked extensively blocking for backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky. That pairing has carried over to training camp. Trubisky has noticed the progression Jones has made because of his encounters with Golden.

“To be matched up against a veteran each day, he’s going to continue to get better,” Trubisky said. “He’s also learning the offense and everything that comes with it. Heck of a player, heck of a talent. If he keeps working on his fundamentals, he’s going to be just fine.”

Pat Meyer, the offensive line coach who is in his second year with the Steelers, has been tutoring Jones on his technique while taking steps not to overwhelm the rookie with too much information at once.

“He really challenges me each and every day by getting better at one specific thing,” Jones said. “He wants me to hone in on one thing whether it’s footwork, hand placement, shooting my hands. I feel like that is how he pushes me.”

When the Steelers open the preseason Friday at Tampa Bay, Jones likely will be penciled in at the second-team left tackle spot. Although the Steelers didn’t draft Jones in the first round to have him sit on the bench for long, he is willing to bide his time until a first-team spot opens.

“My mental (outlook) is good,” he said. “I worked on my mental a lot at Georgia, and it’s something I continue to improve on. I don’t feel like I’m lacking in that area.”