Nov 15, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) prepares to throw the ball during the second quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
JACKSONVILLE -– Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles found out last year that facing Dick LeBeau’s defense can be a challenge for a young quarterback.
LeBeau was the Steelers defensive coordinator last year when the Jaguars lost to the Steelers, 17-9, as Bortles’ offense was held to three field goals and he gave the Steelers a touchdown with a Pick Six.
Bortles is on a long list of rookie quarterbacks who have struggled against LeBeau’s defenses. Since 1995, he’s 27-3 facing rookie quarterbacks.
“It’s always good,” Bortles said of LeBeau’s defenses that tend to feature exotic blitzes. “He has certain things that he does, and obviously everybody that’s coached for him, you kind of see similar things within their defenses. It’ll be a fun, hard challenging task.”
LeBeau, 78, who has spent 57 years as a player and coach in the NFL, was a longtime Steelers assistant and he wasn’t ready to retire when the Steelers decided it was time for him to move on at the end of last year.
He’s now the assistant head coach/defense at Tennessee and runs the defense along with his long-time protege Ray Horton, who is the defensive coordinator.
Although the Titans are 2-7, LeBeau has made an immediate impact on their defense. They were ranked 27th in yardage allowed last year and they’re fifth this year.
In two stints with the Steelers totaling 13 years, his defenses were in the top five 10 times and first five times.
When team co-chairman Amy Adams Strunk recently fired coach Ken Whisenhunt and installed tight ends coach Mike Mularkey as the interim head coach, she decided to bypass LeBeau because she said she didn’t want to distract LeBeau from his work with the defense.
LeBeau only lasted three years with Cincinnati as a head coach from 2000-2002 and was fired after going 12-33.
Bortles will face the Titans’ defense twice in the next three games when the Jaguars host the Titans in a prime-time game Thursday night. The Jaguars then go to Tennessee on Dec. 6.
Greg Olson, in his first year as the Jaguars offensive coordinator, is preparing Bortles to face LeBeau’s defense.
“He just has a lot of what we would call exotic pressures,” Olson said. “He brings people from all areas and brings, not only linebackers, but secondary players. He’s the guy that’s brought exotic blitzes from where he’s been in the past. We certainly see his fingerprints on this defense.”
“Certainly, Ray Horton has taken some of what Dick LeBeau has done because of his experience with Dick,” Olson said. “You’re going to see a lot of similar things. Ray does his own thing, but you’re going to see a lot of familiar things from Dick.”
Olson said he’s also showed the players some of the Pittsburgh clips and said he asks players to keep a file on every coordinator in the league.
“Some of these players have played against Dick LeBeau from Pittsburgh,” Olson said. “You’re going to see some of the pressures he has shown in the past.”
Head coach Gus Bradley said coaches around the league like to watch LeBeau’s defenses.
“He is the standard without a doubt,” Bradley said.
–This has been a lost season for defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks. He spent the offseason rehabbing a torn ACL he suffered in the season finale last year. And he missed the first five games this year before he was ready to play. And in his fourth game in Baltimore, he suffered a torn triceps and is done for the season.
Coach Gus Bradley said that Marks will be placed on the injured reserve list when the Jaguars need a roster spot. Bradley declined to say who will replace him, but Abry Jones and Tyson Alualu are the leading candidates.
Bradley said the Jaguars have enough depth and players who can play multiple positions so they may not need to bring in another lineman.
Notes: Rookie wide receiver Rashad Greene, who has missed seven games with a thumb injury, is eligible to return from injured reserve, designate for return list for the Thursday night game against Tennessee. But the Jaguars haven’t decided whether or not to activate him for the game. One factor will be whether or not wide receiver Bryan Walters is cleared from the concussion program. He was limited in practice Tuesday, but hasn’t been cleared.
