Oct 2, 2014 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – Dick LeBeau is well respected, well-liked and a Pro Football Hall of Fame member.

But one thing he is not is someone who treats rookie quarterbacks well from the opposing sideline.

The Steelers have faced a rookie quarterback 19 times since LeBeau took over as defensive coordinator in 2004. Pittsburgh’s record in those games is 17-2, with one loss coming to Baltimore’s Troy Smith in a regular season finale in 2007. The Steelers rested quarterback Ben Roethlisberger because their playoff spot was assured. The other loss came against Cleveland’s Brandon Weedon in 2012 in a game Roethlisberger didn’t start because of injury and the running backs fumbled eight times.

The Steelers (2-2) will get an opportunity to run that record to 18-2 Sunday, when they travel to Jacksonville (0-4) to face rookie Blake Bortles, the third pick in this year’s draft.

The key to LeBeau’s success against rookies has been the ability of the Steelers to show different pre-snap looks and shift into something else, causing confusion. It’s led to just 10 touchdown passes and 22 interceptions in the previous 19 games against the rookies.

“The players make the plays. They’ve had some good games and some good disguise,” said LeBeau. “We’ll try to do the same thing this week.”

Against Bortles, however, that might be difficult.

The rookie will be making just his second start, but he’s drawn high praise in NFL circles for his poise. In fact, he’s been favorably compared to Roethlisberger, who went 13-0 as a rookie starter in 2004.

“I haven’t seen very much rookie stuff,” said Steelers safety Mike Mitchell of Bortles. “He did throw one interception last week that was kind of a rookie throw. From what I’ve seen, he looks really good. He’s big and strong, breaks a lot of arm tackles, kind of like our quarterback. He doesn’t have that pedigree, but he has the makings of that. He has a strong arm; he’s confident in his arm.”

Bortles has completed 70.5 percent of his 61 passes for 476 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions.

The key for the Steelers could be something they’ve had trouble producing consistently – pressure.

“I think it’s just making a new quarterback uncomfortable,” said Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons. “You want to put pressure on him and stop the run. That’s a quarterback killer.”

The Steelers have just seven sacks in their first four games. Though Jacksonville has given up a league-high 20 sacks, just four of those have come against Bortles since he replaced Chad Henne in the second half of a loss against Indianapolis two weeks ago.

“He just has a feel for the position, and he’s going to be an excellent player,” said LeBeau.

But he might not be there yet.

The Steelers have noticed some rookie tendencies.

“Right now, it seems like he’s a half-play reader. He’s staring down his receivers,” Timmons said. “That’s going to be helpful for us.”

But can confusing the rookie be the difference between a win and a loss?

“Yes and no,” said Mitchell. “It’s always about us and what we’re doing. It’s not about our opponent. It’s going to be us executing our game plan to the best of our ability.

“When we play our best, we can confuse any quarterback, no matter how long they’ve been in the league. It’s not always about disguising things. Sometimes, you can just line up and beat people.”

Odds and end zones

Roethlisberger was given the day off Thursday. … Linebacker James Harrison, who missed Wednesday’s practice with an illness, returned yesterday. … Wide receiver Martavis Bryant missed his second consecutive day of practice with an illness. … Wide receiver Markus Wheaton was limited at practice for the second consecutive day with a hamstring injury.