Broderick Jones silences Steelers fans by stonewalling Bills star in joint practice

Broderick Jones put on an ugly show in the preseason opener against the Houston Texans. This was glaringly obvious when I put on the tape for the second time. The offensive tackle and 2023 first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers was late getting out of his stance and his poor technique resulted in a handful of sloppy reps last week.

It's almost as if Jones took this criticism to heart.

After wrapping up Steelers training camp, Mike Tomlin's team was back at Acrisure Stadium where they met the Buffalo Bills for a joint practice two days before their preseason matchup. Jones wasn't about to let the media get under his skin this time.

Though the joint practice was not open to the public, Pittsburgh's media was on hand to give us the play-by-play. Christopher Carter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posted about the success Jones displayed at practice.

In one-on-one offensive line versus defensive line drills, Broderick had back-to-back wins against Bills' edge rusher Greg Rousseau before stonewalling eight-time Pro Bowler, Von Miller.

During team sessions that followed, Carter reported that Jones ran Miller up the arc on a passing play which allowed Justin Fields to step up into the pocket and deliver a strike to Scotty Miller for a first down.

After a disappointing preseason debut, Broderick found a way to bounce back -- even if it was only for a joint practice. Still, his ability to win handily against Rousseau and Miller shows the type of raw talent he possesses.

Broderick Jones is taking necessary steps to start for Steelers

It's true that Miller is only a shade of his former self, but's still a quick pass rusher who should be able to get around an inexperienced offensive tackle in a one-on-one situation. Meanwhile, Rousseau was fantastic last season and graded out as a top-15 edge rusher in the league, as well as the second-best player on the Bills behind QB Josh Allen, per Pro Football Focus.

This sudden surge of dominance from Jones in the Steelers vs. Bills joint practice doesn't mean that he's on the fast track for a breakout season or even that he's going to lock down a starting job to begin the year. However, this is exactly how you want your first-round pick to bounce back from a bad performance.

The work is far from over. To build on this and prove to the coaching staff why he needs to be a starter in Week 1, Jones needs to carry this dominant practice over to the exhibition stage when the Steelers host the Bills for their preseason game on August 17.

To be fair, Jones had a lot on his plate when he began his second Steelers training camp. Despite the team selecting another offensive tackle in the first round (Troy Fautanu), Jones was still asked to flip-flop between left and right tackle.

If the Steelers are willing to plug Broderick Jones in at left tackle opposite Fautanu, his development could speed up. We will see if he can carry this impressive joint practice performance into Pittsburgh's preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.