Halicke: After horrid showing, concern for Jones is real

It might be time to begin having concerns about Broderick Jones.

No, it's not time to give up on the first-round tackle the Steelers traded up for in the 2023 NFL Draft. That would be absurd. 

But something is clearly going on with him, and it was about as noticeable in the Steelers' 9-3 loss to the Bills Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium as the gigantic brace he's worn on his right arm for nearly a couple weeks.

I mean, I don't have to give you some sort of expert analysis to tell you that on the last of three sacks on the night that Jones got absolutely bullied:

I don't care who that is rushing. Nothing to be taken away from Greg Rousseau, who's really good at what he does. But that is an embarrassing rep for any NFL offensive tackle, much less a first-round pick, to be completely thrown nearly off your feet like a rag doll.

In this Chalk Talk series, I really try to emphasize and break down the Xs and Os. I love to get into schematics, details within concepts and anything else that can help simplify what we see in real time.

However, this is preseason. Trying to break anything like this down in the manner with which I do regular season and postseason games is truly a waste of time. The offense we're seeing right now is not the full blown Arthur Smith offense, and I can get into a million reasons why. 

Just to name a couple of reasons, this team isn't running the ball nearly as often as they will during the season. The first team is hardly running it now, and that's probably to try and conserve the running backs for the season and also work on the passing game. And, there are specific things Smith and the coaching staff want to work on in each preseason game. 

Last week, there was a heavy emphasis on screens. This week, well, it was so difficult to tell what they were trying to do because they were unable to get into any rhythm, and Jones was a big part of that.

"We didn't do a good enough job of protecting the quarterback," Mike Tomlin said after the game. "We've got to do a better job in pass protection than we did not only in possession downs but just in general. I was really up front with the group about it in that regard. That can't be a problem for us. We've got to be better than we were tonight in that area."

Preseason is not the time to judge offensive coordinators or their systems. They aren't gameplanning to beat the team across from them, only focused internally on working out all the kinks in that system. But, one thing that is never excusable, not even in the preseason, is failing to beat the man across from you. That's why this is so concerning for Jones, because it wasn't just one bad rep.

This one was from the first series, which obviously went three-and-out:

Jones' footwork was all over the place in this one. Watch Jones' left foot when Rousseau makes contact with him. He's off balance, which gives him no chance. And Rousseau also makes embarrassing work of Najee Harris, as he gets through two guys to sack Russell Wilson.

But even when his footwork was okay and he stayed balanced, his hands weren't very good:

Jones has just been beaten far too easily far too often this preseason to just brush this aside. Something is wrong.

Some people like to blame it on Jones playing on the right side instead of the left. After all, Jones was a left tackle at Georgia and is far more experienced there. Thus, he may fare better playing on the left.

But let's not forget that nearly all of Jones' NFL snaps have come on the right side. It's not like he's new to this side. And, he never looked this bad playing the right side last season. Ever.

It's also important to remember that Jones came out of college as a far more polished run blocker than he was in pass protection. That turned out to be the case in his rookie season. His run blocking was solid while his pass protection had some rough moments. But, again, never anything that looked this bad. And again, can't blame this on preseason. Players always have to beat the guy in front of them.

Now, going back to this brace I mentioned at the beginning that Jones is wearing. He's been wearing a brace since at least midway through camp, if not earlier. He had his right elbow dinged during a seven shots rep and was limited the remainder of that practice while Troy Fautanu filled in with the first-teamers at right tackle.

Maybe Jones isn't healthy. And, I was one of three reporters who requested an interview with Jones after the game, to which he declined and said he had to go meet with the doctor. Perhaps Jones have to say anything. That may say enough. Jones just might not be healthy. He might not be able to put anything together on the field because he feels restricted. After all, it's hard enough to play offensive tackle with two hands. It's impossible to do it with one.

Whatever is going on, there is plenty of reason to be concerned about Jones. This offensive line is facing an uphill battle right now. Whether you think Jones should or shouldn't be playing the right side, they don't have a better option right now since Fautanu is still recovering from a sprained left knee. Zach Frazier was made the starting center due to Nate Herbig's injury, and he's got his own development to worry about. And, perhaps most important, this offensive line has to gel together. Through two preseason games, they've looked very disjointed. Just not any tangible cohesion on a regular basis.

All of this makes for a really difficult way to gauge how this offense will fare this season. They aren't getting a fair shake because the line isn't creating lanes for the running game and Jones and others are allowing pass rushers to fall into the quarterback's lap before the plays develop.

Again, it's not time to throw the towel in on Jones. It's far too early for that. But, whatever the issue is, there is cause for serious concern. The Steelers need him to become the guy he was drafted to be. And maybe, a switch to the left side is all he needs. The good thing is both Omar Khan and Andy Weidl have committed to that happening eventually.

But until that happens, Jones needs to hold things down on the right side.