Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — For the first time, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones gave an update on his recovery from a devastating season-ending neck injury last year.
“Recovery is good. I feel fine, just getting back to it,” Jones said at OTAs.
In regard to his timeline of being 100 percent, Jones said he’s unsure.
“I really don’t have a timeline. They never gave me a timeline,” he said. “They’re just monitoring it day by day. We’ll go from there.”
Jones expects to work on both sides of the offensive line when he gets back. He doesn’t take the first-round selection of Max Iheanachor personally, saying, “It’s all a business at the end of the day.”
Jones was in uniform for the first practice of OTAs, just months after undergoing surgery to repair the neck injury that prematurely ended his 2025 season.
While Jones was in formation with the rest of the Steelers during warmups at the start of practice, he did not participate in the team portion of practice that was open to the media.
The Steelers haven’t given any kind of a timeframe for Jones’ return to full health, with general manager Omar Khan admitting their was a “little concern there” as the team drafted Iheanachor with the club’s first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The drafting of Iheanachor, and a few days later, the team declining to pick up Jones’ fifth-year option for the 2027 season, were a couple of big signs that the team was more than concerned about Jones’ future.
Jones underwent fusion surgery this offseason.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, spinal fusion is a surgery procedure that reinforces your back structure and stability by linking two vertebrae together. The vertebrae support each other, with the goal of reducing pain and easing symptoms related to your spinal cord and nerves. Typical recovery lasts 3–6 months for daily activity, though full bone fusion can take a year.
Recent former Steelers — Trenton Thompson and Ryan Watts — both retired due to neck injuries, which is why many, including Khan, have questioned Jones’ status for the start of the 2026 season.
“Obviously, he had a significant injury and we’re monitoring how he progresses,” Khan said in February. “I know he’s working hard. It’s early in the process. That’s certainly something that we’re monitoring.”
Jones had his fifth-year option declined earlier this offseason in what was a very unsurprising move, given how much his health is up in the air.
The option would have kept Jones in Pittsburgh through the end of the 2027 season, with a cost of $19.072 million, fully guaranteed. However, the former first-round pick now seems to be fighting for his starting job more than ever.
77 • Broderick Jones, Offensive Tackle Georgia
6-foot-5, 311 pounds, 25 years old, Fourth Season
Acquired: The Steelers drafted Jones out of the University of Georgia with the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. The Steelers traded up in the first round...
