A lot of time passed between Jan. 14 and the Steelers' July reporting date in Latrobe.

Enough for defensive end Cam Heyward to contemplate often what had happened against Jacksonville, what had gone wrong against Jacksonville twice last season.

"Plenty," Heyward confirmed.

The Jaguars beat the Steelers, 30-9, on Oct. 8, 2017 at Heinz Field.

That was the game in which quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw five interceptions and afterward wondered allowed whether he had it any more.

Jacksonville did it again in the postseason, sprinting to a 21-0 lead and then holding off the Steelers, 45-42, and ending the Steelers' season.

"We played bad, simple as that," Heyward said.

Added center Maurkice Pouncey: "They beat us twice and they deserved it."

Heyward provided a bit more thoughtful and thorough reflection following practice today.

"We didn't execute," he said. "We didn't get off blocks. We didn't control the line of scrimmage. Their quarterback had a better day."

Roethlisberger threw for 469 yards and five touchdowns in the rematch, but was also intercepted once and lost a fumble that was returned 50 yards for a touchdown.

Jacksonville's Blake Bortles completed 14 of 21 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown and the Jaguars won the game.

"We just were bad," guard Ramon Foster said. "We can't spot them 21 points. We can't fall back in games. We can't be inefficient on offense. We had a lot of bad stuff, especially us on the offense side early on.

"We didn't dictate the game. We let them do that."

The loss to Jacksonville in January denied the Steelers a shot at the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.

"I just wish we had been more, I guess, humble before the game and just played the game instead of talking," guard David DeCastro said.

"I think talk's pretty cheap."

Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette had a combined 53 carries, 290 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns in the two games.

Not that any such details still sting.

"No chip (on their shoulders), because the thing is, they're a different team, we're a different team," Foster insisted.

A significant difference for the Steelers this season, Foster continued, is "understanding that you have to take advantage of every scenario that you have. I don't know if last year we thought, 'Hey, they won't strike twice,' and they did. And they embarrassed us.

"The clarity on that part more than anything, nobody's gonna lay down for us."