Steelers’ Mike Tomlin Fears ‘Significant’ Injury for Promising Rookie

Head coach Mike Tomlin is always very intentional with the words he uses in press conferences, and that’s not great news for Pittsburgh Steelers rookie tight end DJ Thomas-Jones, who left Sunday’s training camp practice with an injury.

“DJ Thomas-Jones looked like he had a more significant injury,” Tomlin stated candidly on July 27, after relaying more minor injuries to starting left tackle Broderick Jones and rookie wide receiver Montana Lemonious-Craig.

The Steelers HC added that Thomas-Jones is currently “being evaluated.” And that “the next time we come together, I’ll have some more information in that regard.”

Thomas-Jones has flashed potential at times this spring and early summer despite his undrafted status. The fact that he’s listed as a fullback/TE hybrid also made him a bit more intriguing as a possible sleeper to sneak onto the 53-man roster.

Of course, this injury news could change all that. If Thomas-Jones misses any longer amount of training camp, it will prove much more difficult for him to make the active roster at the end of August.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin Calls Broderick Jones ‘Day-to-Day’ After Soft Tissue Injury

The other, more important Jones, suffered an injury setback on July 27, too.

Per ESPN beat reporter Brooke Pryor, “left tackle Broderick Jones left practice early Sunday with what coach Mike Tomlin characterized as a ‘day-to-day’ soft-tissue injury.”

“After going through some individual drills, Jones, who spent his first two seasons at right tackle, left the field to have his right hip and upper thigh/groin area wrapped by Steelers medical staff,” Pryor reported. “A day earlier, Jones was spotted getting his hamstring stretched out on the sideline between periods.”

Although this does not sound like a major cause for concern just yet, Jones’ health and availability will be crucial in 2024, considering he’ll be protecting 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Pryor noted that Calvin Anderson and Dylan Cook both rotated in at left tackle on Sunday with Jones sidelined. But according to Tomlin, no set backup roles have been decided yet on the offensive line or anywhere else.

For now, per the Steelers’ head coach, the team is just “acclimating” and rotating different players in and out.

Steelers Camp Featured Another OL-DL ‘Skirmish’ on Sunday

Along with the injuries, there was another “skirmish” on July 27 as the offensive line and the defensive line got into it again.

“Practicing in the late afternoon means working during the hottest part of the day, something that right tackle Troy Fautanu contributed to Saturday’s camp skirmish and likely added to Sunday’s scrum that started between offensive lineman Ryan McCollum and linebacker Cole Holcomb,” Pryor wrote after practice.

“You could tell guys were a little bit more on edge yesterday, obviously with the heat,” Fautanu told reporters before practice (per Pryor). “But I mean, this is something that Coach Tomlin planned for. This is something he told us before we went on break to be prepared for. I was back home in Vegas, [and] it was like 110 degrees every single day. So obviously it wasn’t that crazy, but the humidity is a lot different out here.

Clearly, tempers are flaring along with the heat as these little skirmishes are becoming a daily occurrence already.