The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without left tackle Broderick Jones for the rest of the season with a neck injury suffered against the Chicago Bears, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and confirmed to PennLive.
The neck injury was initially not anticipated to be serious, but more tests revealed an injury that will end Jones’ season, drawing what was a promising third year for the Georgia product. Moving forward, the Steelers will have Andrus Peat starting at left tackle.
While blocking a Bears defender on a broken play, Jones was yanked by his helmet, causing his neck to jerk.
Jones went down to the ground in pain and stayed down for a significant time period. Eventually, he got up and walked off the field without the assistance of trainers.
Jones was described as having a stringer and did not return to the game. Veteran swing tackle Calvin Anderson replaced him and finished the game, and the concern for Jones was there. Now that it is more serious than they thought, the Steelers have to figure just what the next steps for Jones are after the issue.
The same injury has taken some serious time away from other players in their careers.
It ended the careers of safeties Trenton Thompson and Ryan Watts, who were once promising safeties for the Steelers. Asante Samuel Jr., the team’s new cornerback, had surgery for recurrent stingers.
Jones will hope it never turns into something like that, but stingers that linger are often rooted in a deeper issue that would have to be addressed.