Steelers notebook: Broderick Jones benched after committing 3 penalties in 6-play span

DENVER — The rotation at right tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers lasted less than one series Sunday.

Broderick Jones, who began the game on the bench in favor of rookie Troy Fautanu, entered on the third series of the Steelers’ 13-6 victory against the Denver Broncos. He returned to the bench after being penalized three times in a six-play span. Two of the calls, which came in a three-play sequence, were for holding, the latter wiping out a 51-yard completion to George Pickens that would have put the ball at the Denver 6.

Fautanu, who played the first two series, ran onto the field to replace Jones, and he remained at right tackle for the remainder of the game.

Jones never returned to the field.

Asked if Jones’ penalties scuttled plans to continue the right tackle rotation, coach Mike Tomlin said, “You got it.”

Fautanu made his first NFL start after not getting any snaps in the Steelers’ season-opening 18-10 win at Atlanta. Unlike Jones, he was not charged with any of the Steelers’ 10 penalties.

“I wasn’t sure what the plan was,” Fautanu said about the rotation. “For me, they told me I’d get to go. Whatever happened with the rotation, I can’t control that type of stuff. I made sure that on every drive I did get in, I’d take advantage of it.”

Jones had started the final 10 games of the 2023 season at right tackle, and he played every offensive snap there in the season opener.

“I’m not looking at it as a punishment,” Jones said. “I just have to get better.”

Jones said he hasn’t been accustomed to coming off the bench in his career, and it may have affected his play.

“If I’m not starting, I really feel I shouldn’t be playing,” he said. “A rotation isn’t a big factor for me. At the end of the day, they call it, I haul it so I’ll continue to go out and do it to the best of my ability.”

Jones said he’s shifting his focus to the Steelers’ home opener next Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.

“You’ve got to flush it as quick as possible,” he said.

It’s a game he may watch again from the sidelines given how many mistakes he made in his brief appearance against Denver.

“I just feel like I wasn’t playing up to the speed of the game,” Jones said. “I wasn’t playing with that 110% attitude. I feel like that’s all it was for me. I have to continue to push myself to be better and continue to work.”

Game ball for Russ

Russell Wilson dressed as the emergency third quarterback but did not play against his former team. Nonetheless, the 35-year-old quarterback was given what Justin Fields called a “petty” game ball after the 13-6 victory.

Wilson spent two years with the Broncos before he was released with three years left on his contract. It came after he was benched for the final two games of the 2023 season and with the Broncos eating $39 million of his salary for this season.

“I think we all know Russ kind of got did dirty last year,” Fields said. “I know he wished he had played in this game, but it was awesome getting a win for him.”

Also getting “petty” game balls were former Broncos players Brandon Jackson, a practice squad receiver, and punter Corliss Waitman.

Extra points

In his return to the Steelers, Waitman was called upon to punt eight times. He had a net average of 43 yards, placing two inside the 20-yard line and three that went into the end zone. … Injured during the game were linebacker Tyler Matakevich, who hurt his hamstring on a special teams play, and tight end MyCole Pruitt, who suffered a knee injury. … With the game being played in 88-degree heat, the Broncos made the Steelers wear their black uniforms. It was the first time the Steelers donned black jerseys on the road since 2020 when they played at Dallas, which historically wears white at home.