After being drafted as a projected left tackle but spending his rookie season a right tackle, Broderick Jones remains less than 100% certain which side he will be on when his second NFL season begins in 12 days.

“Gotta wait until Sept. 8 comes,” Jones said Tuesday, “and see what goes down.”

Jones’ Pittsburgh Steelers open their regular season that day at the Atlanta Falcons. Judging by practice reps over the summer and training camp, the Steelers’ starting tackles that day will be the same ones who started each of the final 11 games (including playoffs) of last season: Dan Moore Jr. on the left and Jones on the right.

That was the way the Steelers’ first-team offense lined up over its final two preseason games, too. Of course, there is a sizable caveat in that: 317-pound rookie offensive tackle Troy Fautanu missed both games because of a knee injury.

During the one preseason game Fautanu was available, Jones played more at left tackle (25 snaps) than right (17).

“As of right now, I’m sticking with right tackle,” Jones said of recent practice weeks. “That’s what I’ve been playing. Troy is still trying to get (healthy). For me, (right tackle) is where I feel like I’ll be at for the first game of the season, but you never know. We’ll see how it plays out.”

Reading between the lines, Jones’ comments seem to tacitly confirm the popular view of the general framework for the future of the Steelers’ O-line: that Fautanu is the right tackle of the future.

And perhaps even the present. Though even if Fautanu is medically cleared for full practice work by the time the Steelers return from a four-day holiday break Monday, it might be a tall task for a rookie — even one taken in the first round — to start his NFL debut after a mere four practices following a three-week injury absence.

Jones said Tuesday he hasn’t taken any recent team practice reps at left tackle, though before and after practice he works sets as if he was on the left side.

“With Troy being out,” Jones said, “I really have to focus on the right side for right now.”

Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.