Broderick Jones gets another shot with brutal Troy Fautanu injury update

We're only in Week 3 of the 2024 NFL season and it seems like absolutely nothing is going to plan for the Pittsburgh Steelers offensively. This doesn't mean it's all bad, but it's just not going to plan.

First, the quarterback situation has strayed far away from what the plan was. Leading into the season, the obvious plan was to have a QB competition between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Wilson won the job and the plan was to sit Fields behind Wilson and allow the younger quarterback to grow. Wilson got hurt before week one, completely ruining the plan, and now Pittsburgh is rolling with Fields for the foreseeable future.

As for the offensive line, the plan was simple in regards to their offensive tackles. Their two tackles of the future looked to be 2023 first round pick Broderick Jones and 2024 first round pick Troy Fautanu. But Fautanu got injured during the preseason, allowing Dan Moore to start. Moore has looked great and Jones has struggled on the other side.

Following a few penalties in Week 2, Pittsburgh benched Jones and gave Fautanu the chance to play, where he looked great. This led to Mike Tomlin elevating Fautanu to the team's starting right tackle, moving Jones to the bench.

Steelers 2024 first round pick Troy Fautanu ruled out for Week 3 matchup with Chargers

But this whole idea was quite short lived, as it's been reported that Fautanu suffered an injury in practice leading up to Week 3, confirmed by Broderick Jones himself.

"We really don't know what his status is going to be," Jones said of Fautanu. "I filled in for him and then just going to roll from there after he gets his MRI and stuff, and we'll just figure out what's going on from there."

On Saturday afternoon, the Steelers officially ruled Fautanu "out" for their Week 3 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Now, Pittsburgh will turn back to their Week 1 duo of offensive tackles, Jones and Moore, as they look to move to 3-0 for the first time since 2020.

Jones deserves to play and he's beyond talented enough to play. He was the victim of a few ticky tack penalties that spiraled out of control, leading to a frustrating couple of drives last week. He's the caliber of player that can be relied on to lead an offensive line.

The severity of Fautanu's injury is unknown at this point, but going in for an MRI is never good news.