Steelers' Broderick Jones Speaks Out On His Poor Week 1 Performance

The Pittsburgh Steelers started the 2025 NFL season off with a victory on Sunday as the team was able to win a close one over the New York Jets. The final score was 34-32 in what was an unexpected shootout, as both defenses struggled, while both quarterbacks played extremely well against their former teams. The offense was a pleasant surprise for the Steelers as the group was able to move the ball well and produce plenty of points, but there are still some areas that are worrisome moving forward in the 2025 season.

The offensive line is going to be the x-factor for the Steelers' offense during the 2025 season, and the group did not play well enough on Sunday in the win over the Jets. Pittsburgh struggled to run the ball, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers saw consistent pressure. He was sacked four total times throughout the contest. Broderick Jones has been blamed for a lot of the issues on the offensive line, and he certainly struggled in his first game back at left tackle after playing the last two years mostly at right tackle. He spoke to the media on Wednesday and addressed the issues.

"Just got to continue to focus, I can't put that on tape," Jones said. "I know that, everybody knows that, just can't have that performance."

Jones at least acknowledged that his performance was not what it needed to be, which is a step in the right direction. When he has struggled in the past, he took his frustrations to social media and he got into it with some fans. This time around, he seems to have matured and is working his best to fix the issues. Jones knows the organization is relying on him to play better after being a first-round pick back in 2023, and hopefully his best performances are in front of him.

There has been some murmurs about potentially benching Jones in the near future, but Pittsburgh is going to have to give him some more opportunities before that happens. The franchise invested a lot in the tackle and it even traded up back in 2023 to land him. He just hasn't lived up to his first-round label thus far. 

That is partly on the organization as he has been switched between right tackle and left tackle multiple times throughout his career, and his development has certainly been hindered some due to that. Jones needs to show improvement in the near future or Pittsburgh is going to have to begin to consider other options at left tackle. He is the clear weak link on the offense after one game, but hopefully that changes in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Steelers' Offensive Line Is More Important Than Ever

Rodgers is 41-years old and he is roughly two years removed from a serious Achilles injury that caused him to miss most of the 2023 season. It is crucial that the offensive line is able to keep him upright, and the group did not do a good enough job with that against New York. Rodgers took four sacks and saw pressure on a ton of his drop backs. This area of the offense needs to improve, and Pittsburgh also needs to find a way to run the football more efficiently. New York completely shut down the run game, and this allowed the defensive front to pin its ears back when rushing the passer, which puts the offensive line at a disadvantage.

Jones is going to be an interesting player to watch on a young offensive line throughout the 2025 season.

What do you think about Jones' comments on his performance? Let us know in the comments below!

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