Mike Tomlin assesses play of Steelers LT Broderick Jones in opener: 'It could be better'

Mike Tomlin made one thing clear about his offense Tuesday at his weekly news conference: He doesn’t want to see his 41-year-old quarterback on his backside four times on a weekly basis.

Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times — and hit seven overall — in the Steelers’ 34-32 victory against the New York Jets, and that was too many trips to the ground in Tomlin’s estimation.

“I thought we could be better,” Tomlin said. “As a collective, we got our quarterback hit too often for my liking, so it’s back to the lab.”

Three of the sacks came at the expense of Broderick Jones, who was starting at left tackle after spending most of his first two seasons playing right tackle. Pro Football Focus issued a 46.8 pass blocking grade to Jones, the lowest of any Steelers lineman. Among tackles who were on the field for at least 20% of all pass plays, Jones ranked No. 50 out of 62 players.

“Certainly, it could be better,” Tomin said. “All of our performances could be better. Our quarterback got hit too much, and he was a component of that.”

Tomlin said confidence is not an issue for Jones.

“You don’t get to the NFL by being fragile emotionally,” he said. “There are a lot of confident guys I work with. You win some battles, you lose some battles, you come back fighting. That’s the nature of the guys playing at this level.”

Tomlin attributed the pressure to the amount of play-action passes that were called in the game. Rodgers used play action on several of his touchdown passes, but he also experienced the downside as evidenced by the sacks.

“You absorb certain risk executing play pass in an effort to gain yards in chunks,” Tomlin said. “That risk shouldn’t manifest itself in the form of multiple sacks like he did. As a staff and collective, we have to be a little better in that space.”

Getting defensive

Tomlin doesn’t expect to change any roles along the defensive line even though the Steelers gave up 182 yards rushing to the Jets, the second most allowed by any defense in Week 1.

That means Keeanu Benton will remain at nose tackle and flanked by Cameron Heyward and Isaiahh Loudermilk in the base formation. Loudermilk started against the Jets because of first-round pick Derrick Harmon’s knee injury. The Steelers rotated rookie Yahya Black and free-agent addition Daniel Ekuale.

Led by Breece Hall’s 107 yards rushing, the Jets averaged 4.7 yards per carry against the Steelers.

“I didn’t think we whipped enough blocks and made enough tackles, specifically,” Tomlin said. “Those are fundamental things. We certainly will work to be better there.”

Asked what he wants to see from his run defense this week against Seattle, Tomlin said, “I want us to be stouter.”

Black is the heaviest player on the roster at 330 pounds and played inside and outside against the Jets. He could be used to take on a bigger role along the line.

“He can play snaps at nose because he’s a big man,” Tomlin said. “He can absorb double teams and not be moved. He’s capable of playing further distances from the ball because of his length.”

Big leagues

Entering his first full season as a starter at inside linebacker, Payton Wilson played 56 of 64 snaps while veteran Cole Holcomb never left the bench except for eight special teams snaps.

Holcomb was playing in his first regular-season game in 18 months. Tomlin didn’t think the matchup was the right fit for Holcomb’s return on defense.

“If the opportunity presents itself from a matchup standpoint, we’re open to it,” he said. “We don’t feel an obligation for participation. This is not Little League football. We’re going to assemble a group that we think is capable of winning certain matchups in certain moments. Cole has had a good process, we’re happy to have him back from injury and I’m certain he’ll get an opportunity in the not-too-distant future.”

Injury report

Safety DeShon Elliott (knee), linebacker Malik Harrison (knee) and Harmon (knee) will not play against Seattle, according to Tomlin.

Harmon did not play in the opener after injuring his knee in the preseason finale.

Tomlin is “optimistic” that outside linebacker Nick Herbig (hamstring) and cornerback Joey Porter Jr. (hamstring) can play Sunday. Herbig missed the season opener, and Porter was injured in the second half and did not return.