Thomas’ injury occurred on the Jaguars’ second offensive snap.
Advertisement
Thomas injured his left hand when Steelers cornerback William Gay tackled him on a 2-yard gain in the first quarter.
Thomas headed to the locker room for tests, and the team said his return was questionable. Jones was sacked on a fourth and ten and the Steelers turn the ball over on downs to allow Jacksonville to kneel it out and secure the 23-21 victory. The Jaguars are utilizing more two tight end sets and really trying to exploit mismatches in the secondary now that they have someone like Thomas in their stable of weapons.
They flew down the field like an advancing army, took 80 yards of relatively uncontested ground from the Jaguars, and sat back with the rest of the fans in a largely empty EverBank Field and watched.
Then, the understudies ruined the show.
Blake Bortles. Bortles looked poised and confident while overcoming one overthrow and three drops to throw for 118 yards. His four-yard touchdown run capped an impressive 12-play, 83-yard drive.
Chad Henne replaced Bortles, completing 9 of 10 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. Denard Robinson rushed four times for 22 yards, Toby Gerhart four times for 13 yards and Bernard Pierce three times for nine yards. “We were moving people off the ball and finding running lanes”.
Also of note, Bradley said Luke Bowanko will get the start at center, but will rotate with veteran Stefen Wisniewski.
This is the first season in a while where I think the Jaguars have a fairly solid floor. “We need to start fast like that”.
Pittsburgh scored first on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s only drive.
The Jaguars’ first-unit defense played the entire first quarter except for linebacker Paul Posluszny, who departed after the opening six-play series.
“The defense settled down”, Caldwell said. What their opponents will need to keep in mind is that, this year, they’ll have real versatility.
What does the addition of Julius Thomas do to the Jaguars offense?
Expect the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars game to be televised at 7:30 PM EST on August 14 on Channel KDKA (CBS/2-Pittsburgh) and WJXT (4-Jacksonville).
Bortles overcame drops by wide receiver Allen Hurns and tight end Clay Harbor, along with some uneven pass blocking to finish his night in positive fashion.
Advertisement
Greene was the third player to get a chance on punt returns, following Tandon Doss (five yards) and Bryan Walters (fair catch).
