Jacksonville Jaguars Prepare For Pittsburgh Steelers Defense

They aren’t The Steel Curtain defense or Jack Lambert or even Jack Ham. Donnie Shell and Rod Woodson aren’t roaming in the secondary with Mel Blount looking to know your head off. They are the Steelers defense, however, which could present a major issue for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Just the thought of the name could send chills up the spines of the younger Jaguars offensive starters.

In particular, facing the Steelers means facing a defense coordinated by Dick LeBeau, who is known for blitzing rookie quarterbacks and having success doing so.

“Obviously, they do a bunch of different things,” Bortles said as the Jaguars (0-4) prepared to play the Steelers (2-2) at EverBank Field Sunday at 1 p.m. “They’re solid at what they do. They’re an aggressive defense that goes after it and attacks the ball. We’re going to have to be sharp and exact with what we do,” according to Jaguars.com.

That’s particularly true against rookie quarterbacks.

The Steelers are 17-2 against rookie quarterbacks in LeBeau’s tenure as defensive coordinator, and Roethlisberger didn’t play in either loss. One loss was to Baltimore in the 2007 regular-season finale after the Steelers clinched their playoff positioning. The other loss came to Cleveland in 2013, a game that featured eight Steelers fumbles.

PASZTOR TO START, BRANCH PROBABLE

According to Jaguars.com, Austin Pasztor’s wait appears over.

It also appears the Jaguars will have their 2014 sacks leader on Sunday when they play host to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pasztor, a third-year right tackle out since Preseason Week 2 after sustaining a fractured hand in Chicago, likely will make his 2014 regular-season debut Sunday, with Head Coach Gus Bradley saying Friday that Pasztor likely will start.

“He’s going pretty good,” Bradley said Friday as the Jaguars (0-4) prepared to play the Steelers (2-2) at EverBank Field Sunday at 1 p.m. “I think we wanted to see how he handled it with the cast on, where it was on his hand. He has handled it pretty good . . . This whole week, you could see him getting more comfortable.”

Defensive end Andre Branch, who leads the team with three sacks this season, is listed as probable on the team’s injury report. He worked limited in practice Friday after missing Thursday’s work with a hip flexor injury.

Wide receiver Cecil Shorts III (hamstring), wide receiver Marqise Lee (hamstring), tight end Mickey Shuler (illness) and cornerback Dwayne Gratz (concussion) were ruled out.

Pasztor opened training camp as the starting right tackle and with Pasztor’s injury, Cameron Bradfield started the first two games of the regular season at the spot. The Jaguars released Bradfield after the offensive line allowed 10 sacks at Washington in Week 2, and Sam Young started the last two games.