Steelers tackle Troy Fautanu hurt, puts start in doubt

PITTSBURGH — Days away from making his second career start, Pittsburgh Steelers first-round tackle Troy Fautanu sustained an injury in Friday’s practice, making his status for Sunday’s home opener against the L.A. Chargers in doubt.

Fautanu, who sprained his left MCL in the first preseason game, left practice Friday after “a little tweak,” fellow tackle Broderick Jones confirmed after practice. With Fautanu’s early exit, Jones, who the Steelers traded up to select in the first round of the 2023 draft, stepped in and practiced with the first team offensive line at right tackle just days after being benched during the win against the Denver Broncos.

“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.

“The coach is going to make the decision at the end of the day. We got two days, he got a day and a half to rest, whatever it is. I really don’t even know what happened to him. I ain’t seen him yet, so we just figure it out and go from there.”

Fautanu got his first career start in Denver, but coach Mike Tomlin said he initially planned to rotate tackles in that game. Jones, though, committed three penalties in a six-play span and got replaced by Fautanu for the rest of the game.

“I played bad,” Jones said this week of the Week 2 game. “That’s all that matters at the end of the day. You f— up, you get pulled.

“That’s all it is. I’ve just got to be better. Continue to grow as a player, as a man and take the good with the bad.”

Tomlin voiced his support for Jones in his Tuesday news conference and said Jones would have “an opportunity to rebound” this week.

“He’s a talented young player,” Tomlin said. “I’m sure he suffered some disappointment in terms of Troy starting. It’s a natural thing, but he’s got to move past it. I got to give him an opportunity to move past it as a leader.”

To help curb the in-game penalties, the Steelers had officials at practice every day this week. Typically, the team hosts officials only for Friday’s practice.

“It gives us feedback on the things we can work on, or the things they may see that may hinder us from doing what we need to do during the game, so it’s good,” Jones said.

Jones added he was ready to rebound if given the opportunity, and he isn’t dwelling on his penalty-laden performance.

“I feel like I got better this week during practice for the most part,” Jones said. “Just got to continue to just stay upright, because it’s a long season and always trying to just take care of the body as much as possible.”