His rip under left tackle Luke Joeckel was a classic move from his repertoire, and his tomahawk chop to separate man from ball, arm raised ominously in the air behind a quarterback none the wiser, was certainly reminiscent of many other fine memories from his impressive career. The Jaguars will probably give their starters a good amount of run this preseason, as no offense is more reliant on young players.
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“That’s the reason why we signed him because he had some rush skills so for him to get those (sacks) at the end of the game it was great to see that”, said Bradley. That being said Steeler Nation can look forward to seeing the “varsity team” out for a couple of series against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday night. We later learned that Thomas fractured a finger in his hand, but it wasn’t too serious and he should be ready for week 1 of the regular season. And Brown caught the only ball throw in his direction. “We need to score on opening drives”. But he has to sit out the first two games because of a league suspension stemming from his arrest for marijuana possession and driving under the influence in August 2014.
“I think one of Gus’s [Bradley] big things is being able to respond to adversity and grow from it”, said Bortles.
“Right now we’re nowhere near where we need to be or want to be but that’s why you have preseason”.
It took 6 plays in just three minutes for the team to complete an 80-yard drive which was capped off by a 44-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Bryant.
But most notable were the struggles of the Steelers pass defense, both in its ability to create pressure on the quarterback up front as well as consistently win in coverage against Jacksonville’s receivers.
Thomas was repeatedly a step slow in his reads, none more egregious than on a deep touchdown pass from Chad Henne to Clay Harbor.
Between Senquez Golson’s shoulder injury and the Steelers trading for Brandon Boykin, who has fit right in, Grant’s been under-discussed. “It was a lot of fun and it allowed us to see where we’re really at because we’re bringing out competitive attitude to the next level”. Also, Josh Harris left the game with a left foot injury and didn’t return.
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Whether the positive trends continue or the negative ones are curtailed in the following three weeks bears watching throughout the remainder of the preseason. “I just didn’t like the way we finished the first half so I asked Coach [Tomlin] if I can go back in for the beginning of the third quarter”. Yeldon injured his hand in a scrimmage last week and did not play against the Steelers. “I liked the effort and the energy of the guys”.
