Tim Benz: Don't make Broderick Jones' postgame comment into something more than it was

Offensive tackle Broderick Jones is going through enough right now given how poorly he is playing and how badly he has been misused by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He doesn’t need what looks like an inflammatory comment being misinterpreted.

Jones was pulled from the starting lineup leading up to Sunday’s game in Denver in favor of Troy Fautanu on the right side and Dan Moore Jr. on the left side. During what became a 13-6 Steelers win, Jones was given a series at right tackle in the first half.

It was a disaster. He committed three penalties and was pulled before the series was over. One of his flags negated a 51-yard strike from Justin Fields to George Pickens.

After the game, Jones acted like a pro and faced the media. The interview was aired on the “Extra Point” postgame show on KDKA+, and Jones said almost everything any public relations firm would want him to say.

• On his benching: “I’m not looking at it as a punishment or anything. You’ve just got to continue to get better.”

• On the flags against him: “These are penalties. At the end of the day, you don’t have a say-so on that. If the ref throws the flag, that’s on the ref. You’ve just got to continue to play fast and physically. Stay within your means.”

• On playing poorly during that drive: “You’ve just got to flush it as quick as possible. We still had a game to win. I didn’t want to bring that bad energy to the sideline with the rest of the team and then it just goes haywire from there. So I just tried to stay locked into the game and continue to finish and push my teammates to be better and continue to talk to my teammates.”

• On Fautanu’s first start as his right tackle replacement: “I feel like he had a great game. A couple things he can clean up, but for him and his first start, I feel like he did really well.”

• On if he is playing hurt: “Nicks and bruises. But other than that, everything is fine.”

Sounds like an A-plus in “Postgame Quotes 101” to me.

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In fact, that last answer isn’t even true. Jones is playing through injuries, but he downplayed them so as to avoid making it look like he was making excuses or putting the franchise in a spot where it appeared as if it dressed an injured player.

However, there was one comment from that interview that I think has been taken out of context, and it’s making the Steelers’ handling of their offensive tackles look even worse than it has been, if that is possible.

Jones was asked whether rotating at right tackle with Fautanu was frustrating.

“Not really because if I’m not starting, I really don’t feel like I should be playing. So (the) rotation is really not a big factor for me. At the end of the day, they call it, I haul it. So I just try and continue to go out there and do the best of my ability,” Jones said.

Many on sports talk radio, online and on social media seized on “if I’m not starting, I really don’t feel like I should be playing” and are turning it into Gary Templeton in 1979.

That’s when the Cardinals shortstop said of being named a reserve to the All-Star Game: “If I ain’t startin’, I ain’t departin’.”

In other words, if I’m not starting, don’t even bother asking me to play.

First of all, even though it’s a great line, Templeton didn’t originally say that. Announcer Jack Buck did.

Second, I don’t think Jones meant that. Based on everything he said in that interview, to simultaneously suggest, “Start me or leave me at home,” would be an extraordinary inconsistency in Jones’ mentality and demeanor.

It sounds like what Jones was saying is that if he isn’t a starter, he doesn’t deserve rotational reps. Seeing as how, in most cases, that is how 99% of NFL offensive lines work, I can see where he is coming from.

Maybe Jones should’ve sprinkled the word “deserve” in the middle of that comment. Then no one would be saying anything. But I saw the video of the interview, and that’s the impression I got from what he was saying.

He’s right, by the way. Rotating offensive tackles is stupid. Play your top two. Period. If you want to get some extra reps for a third, make him an eligible tight end as the Steelers have been doing for years.

Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith likes playing tight ends as it is. Have Jones do that in a pure run-blocking capacity instead of Darnell Washington or MyCole Pruitt (who suffered an injury Sunday) on occasion.

Regardless, there is plenty to get upset about when it comes to how Jones is playing and how the Steelers have deployed him since they traded up to draft him last year. Making something out of nothing when it comes to his comment is unnecessary.

Jones’ performance may be leaving a sour taste in your mouth. But he’s not a sourpuss. There are bigger issues. One is how the Steelers have mangled his development and cluttered their depth chart at the position.

If Jones really said what he was thinking, I bet the comments would actually be a lot stronger.