Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Having a 41-year-old quarterback, the Pittsburgh Steelers are best served keeping him off the ground. That mission wasn’t as successful as head coach Mike Tomlin would’ve liked in a 34-32 win over the New York Jets on Sunday.
Tomlin discussed third-year left tackle Broderick Jones’ performance after signal-caller Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times in the victory.
“You know, certainly it could be better, but, certainly, all of our performances can be better,” Tomlin said Tuesday during a press conference at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “As I mentioned, our quarterback got hit too much and he was a component of that.”
Tomlin added that he’s not worried about Jones’ confidence going forward. Jones is back in his natural position after mainly playing on the other side of the line during the first two seasons of his career. He’s in a big year as it pertains to his future with the Steelers.
“You don’t get to the National Football League by being fragile emotionally,” Tomlin said. “There’s a lot of confident guys 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.”
Meanwhile, second-year big man Troy Fautanu finally played some meaningful time at right tackle after having his rookie season cut short by a dislocated kneecap and subsequent ligament damage. Tomlin evaluated his showing similarly to his fellow tackle.
“Just like Broderick. I thought he had some good moments, I thought he certainly could be better,” Tomlin said. “As I mentioned, as a collective, we got our quarterback hit too often for my liking.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Mike Tomlin Says Broderick Jones Must Be Better: ‘Our QB Got Hit Too Much’
