Start vs. Ravens could be 1st in long run for Steelers rookie tackle Broderick Jones

George Pickens accelerated to a speed of 20.48 mph on his 41-yard touchdown reception Sunday that led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 17-10 victory against the Baltimore Ravens.

Next Gen Stats, the NFL’s statistical arm, didn’t calculate how fast Broderick Jones ran after the play, but the 311-pound rookie left tackle wasn’t far behind his teammate in reaching the end zone. He was among the first players to celebrate with Pickens on the touchdown that gave the Steelers a four-point lead with 1 minute, 17 seconds remaining.

“I like to celebrate with my receivers,” Jones said this week. “They run all the time. When they go down there and score, for me to run down on one play and celebrate isn’t going to make a difference.”

The way Jones figured it, he was going to have to run toward the end zone anyhow, either to get ready for the conversion or to set up for the next play in the event Pickens hadn’t scored. Jones wasn’t immediately aware of the outcome after the pass left quarterback Kenny Pickett’s right hand, but he sensed good things by the crowd’s reaction.

“Either it was a big play and I had to get down the field, or it was a touchdown,” Jones said. “Either way, I was going to be running.”

Jones can be forgiven for his exuberance considering he was making his first NFL start for the Steelers. Drafted No. 14 overall, Jones had played in two previous games, including the final 51 snaps the previous week in place of an injured Dan Moore Jr.

With Moore continuing to nurse a knee injury, Jones made his much-anticipated starting debut against the Ravens.

“He held his own out there,” center Mason Cole said. “Coach (Mike Tomlin) was talking about it during the week about having fight as a team, and I think Broderick showed a lot of that. There was no backing down, and he played his butt off.”

According to Pro Football Focus’ subjective grading system, Jones ranked as the No. 13 tackle out of 60 who played at least 20% of his team’s offensive snaps last week. Among left tackles, his grade ranked seventh best.

Jones allowed one pressure, one hurry and, most importantly, no sacks among his 38 pass-blocking snaps.

“He did a great job,” Pickett said. “When Brod came in, he prepared hard. I’m really proud of his preparation, the energy and enthusiasm he brought.”

It was a nice building block for Jones, who is in line to make his second start when the Steelers return from the bye week and face the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 22. It remains to be seen what role Moore will have when his injury heals.

“We’ll have to evaluate everything,” offensive line coach Pat Meyer said. “Dan played well when he was in there. He played against (Nick) Bosa, (Myles) Garrett and Maxx Crosby. Put T.J. (Watt) in there, and that’s four of the best in the world. The good thing is we have several guys who we are confident we can put in the game and play and not lose much performance wise.”

Cole, for one, was curious to see how Jones would react to making his first start considering what was at stake in the game and the way the Steelers were coming off a 30-6 loss at Houston.

“There is a pressure aspect to it, right?” he said. “First-round pick, first start, big divisional game. I think he handled it well. He had no choice but to handle it well, and he did.”

While he patiently prepared for a chance to start, Jones said he took to heart what Meyer and assistant offensive line coach Isaac Williams taught him since organized team activities in May.

“I was really raw when I came in,” he said. “(They) did a great job having me work on one thing each and every week to get better at. They weren’t trying to overload me with just trying to push me to do everything at once. That was a big asset to me.”

Still, Jones admitted feeling nervous when he stepped on the Acrisure Stadium grass before the game against Baltimore.

“I always get jitters no matter how long I’ve been doing it,” he said. “That’s just me trying to be perfect at everything I do.”

Jones wasn’t perfect against the Ravens, but he did everything the Steelers asked of him in his starting debut.

“He accepted the challenge,” offensive coordinator Matt Canada said. “We have great faith in his ability. We’re really, really high on who he is and how hard he works. He’ll just get better and better.”