With left tackle Broderick Jones out at least the next month, Andrus Peat is next-man-up to replace him. Despite being inactive for all but one game this season and Calvin Anderson subbing in for Jones right after his neck injury last Sunday, Peat will earn the start in today’s game against the Buffalo Bills. In his weekly interview with Bob Labriola, Mike Tomlin explained the decision why.
“We’re going to go with Andrus Peat at left tackle,” Tomlin told Labriola in an interview posted to the team website Sunday morning. “Calvin Anderson has done an awesome job, and he will continue to do an awesome job as a swing tackle for us. We felt it was important to keep him in that swing role, to make sure that we fortify ourselves at both spots.”
Anderson’s versatility to play left or right tackle gave him more gameday value and the initial choice to be active on gameday. Peat has been a left-side player throughout his entire career, seeing time at either left tackle or left guard. With a concrete starting job up for grabs, versatility matters less and Peat is getting the call.
That will allow Anderson to remain the swing player and make for less mess should another in-game injury arise. Had Anderson started at left tackle and right tackle Troy Fautanu gotten hurt, Anderson would need to shift over to the right side with Peat coming in on the left. Two moves to replace one spot is never ideal.
Tomlin also credited Peat for having a resume worthy of starting.
“Andrus Peat has played a lot of football over the course of his career and has been a wire-to-wire starter,” he said. “We certainly got a lot of ball in front of us, and so we feel really comfortable about that division of labor.”
Peat is a former first round pick who will make his 105th career regular season start today. It’ll be his first at left tackle since the end of the 2023 season and he’s only played eight snaps this season. Throughout practice, he’s primarily worked at left guard but received plenty of left tackle reps this weekend in preparation of replacing Jones.
Peat will have the task of protecting QB Aaron Rodgers’ blindside. Rodgers is playing in his first game since suffering a wrist injury in Week 11, one that is more serious than initially believed. His main opponents will be Joey Bosa (himself battling a wrist injury) and Greg Rosseau, a pair of former first round picks just as Peat was a decade ago.
