{"id":922119,"date":"2026-07-24T06:12:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/24\/fittipaldo-says-broderick-jones-at-risk-of-lost-season-with-expectation-he-begins-camp-on-pup\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T06:12:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:12:39","slug":"fittipaldo-says-broderick-jones-at-risk-of-lost-season-with-expectation-he-begins-camp-on-pup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/24\/fittipaldo-says-broderick-jones-at-risk-of-lost-season-with-expectation-he-begins-camp-on-pup\/","title":{"rendered":"Fittipaldo Says Broderick Jones At Risk Of \u2018Lost Season\u2019 With \u2018Expectation\u2019 He Begins Camp On PUP\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Football <\/p>\n

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Broderick Jones has a steep hill to climb. Not just the one that serves as the backdrop of Saint Vincent College\u2019s football fields, either.<\/p>\n

Limited all spring with a neck injury as Pittsburgh drafted another first-round offensive tackle, Jones has a difficult path to reinsert himself into the starting conversation. It\u2019s a point the PPG\u2019s Ray Fittipaldo made Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the expectation on Tuesday is he\u2019s probably gonna start on PUP,\u201d Fittipaldo told 93.7 The Fan\u2019s Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller.<\/a> \u201cAnd then you gotta start the clock, okay? One week, two weeks. To me, he\u2019s gotta be off PUP and practicing before that first preseason game if he\u2019s gonna really be a part of that competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s preseason opener is Aug. 13 against the Green Bay Packers.<\/p>\n

Jones suffered a freak neck injury last season that required spinal fusion surgery. He was cleared to practice during individual periods of the spring<\/a> but not team sessions and admitted he had no timetable to fully return. Pittsburgh could place him on Active\/PUP to begin training camp. He could still be activated off Active\/PUP at any moment, but the more time he misses, the slimmer his already small chances become.<\/p>\n

Troy Fautanu is assured to start at one of the tackle spots, likely on the left side. Dylan Cook and Max Iheanachor will battle on the other side. It leaves little room for Jones to make his case, an idea that will be reinforced the more time he sits out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he\u2019s not [activated within that time], then it\u2019s probably gonna be, I hate to say it, another kinda lost season for him,\u201d Fittipaldo said. \u201cBecause it\u2019s tough to make up ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fittipaldo\u2019s point is accurate. Jones has several factors working against him. Even if he\u2019s healthy and cleared by mid-August, it\u2019s doubtful he\u2019ll be a serious contender to start.<\/p>\n

Beginning the year as a backup might be best-case. It\u2019s even plausible the Steelers dangle him on the trade market. With offensive line help always scarce and Jones on a cheap rookie contract, the league might have interest.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s report date should provide clarity on Jones\u2019 initial status. Even if it brings good news of avoiding an injured list to begin the summer, Jones\u2019 future with the team remains murkier than ever.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Read More<\/a> Alex Kozora<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Broderick Jones has a steep hill to climb. Not just the one that serves as the backdrop of Saint Vincent College\u2019s football fields, either. Limited all spring with a neck injury as Pittsburgh drafted another first-round offensive tackle, Jones has a difficult path to reinsert himself into the starting conversation. It\u2019s a point the PPG\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":922120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33006,140997,3790],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-922119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-broderick","category-fittipaldo","category-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=922119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/922120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=922119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=922119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=922119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}