In his first press meeting with the Dallas Cowboys, offensive tackle Broderick Jones sent blame to the Pittsburgh Steelers on the struggles he experienced to begin his NFL career. The Steelers might have received another dig Friday.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer shared a lot of positive remarks on Jones after the tackle’s first week with the team. But Schottenheimer may have indirectly fired a shot at Pittsburgh’s former coaching staff.
“He’s doing terrific,” Schottenheimer said of Jones, via Dallascowboys.com’s Nicole Hutchison. “There are some techniques he’s been taught that we’re having to retrain, and usually, it takes a minute, but in terms of the athlete and young man, I’m sold.”
The Steelers drafted Jones at No. 14 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. After three frustrating seasons, Pittsburgh traded Jones to the Cowboys on Saturday ahead of the NFL’s roster cutdown day.
Pundits didn’t expect Jones to start for the Steelers this fall. He might not have made the roster either.
Did Cowboys’ Brian Schottenheimer Take a Shot at Steelers?
Pundits in Steelers media took Schottenheimer’s saying the Cowboys needed to retrain Jones as a dig at the Steelers. From an objective point of view, though, it’s not really clear it indeed was a shot fired.
“What we can’t say for sure is if Schottenheimer is talking about techniques Jones has learned that the Cowboys’ coaching staff doesn’t agree with, or if the retraining has to do with Jones being in a new offense and needing to do things differently than he has before,” wrote SI on Cowboys’ Mike Moraitis. “Either way, the Cowboys will hope the retraining makes Jones a better lineman than he was in Pittsburgh.”
Even if the former is the case, it’s quite possible Schottenheimer didn’t intend his remark to be an insult. That’s how it comes across, though, especially if Schottenheimer’s implication is Jones learned bad habits while with the Steelers.
But similar to Jones’ comment about how the team flipping him back and forth between left and right tackle hurt him, what Schottenheimer said isn’t necessarily wrong. Clearly, something went wrong in Pittsburgh, and few, if anyone, would say the problem was Jones’ talent.
The tackle is very athletic. He has the reputation of being a friendly, coachable young man. Naturally, those narratives are going to cause pundits and fans to question if the Steelers coaching was the issue with Jones’ development.
Pat Meyer served as Pittsburgh’s offensive line coach for Jones’ first three seasons. This summer, Jones worked under veteran offensive line coach James Campen, who joined Mike McCarthy’s first Steelers coaching staff this offseason.
Cowboys Coach Appears to Take Shot at Steelers Over Broderick Jones