Looking to stack wins: During his weekly press conference, Coach Mike Tomlin said what many expected after the ups and downs of the first four weeks of the season.
"The bottom line is we haven't been overly consistent in performance," said Tomlin.
And he isn't the only one who feels that way. The players see it too.
The Pittsburgh Steelers prepare for the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Steelers opened the season with a win over Cleveland, but came back and lost to Baltimore the following Thursday. They defeated Carolina, but lost to Tampa Bay last week.
"If the coach says it, it's definitely evident," said linebacker Arthur Moats. "I feel like he is transparent and we are always on the same page as far as what we need to correct and move forward."
Running back Le'Veon Bell knows that it's going to take a team effort to start stacking the wins, something that Tomlin preaches the importance of.
"We haven't been consistent, we haven't won two games straight," said running back Le'Veon Bell. "We haven't won on a consistent basis; we haven't looked good on a consistent basis as a collective group."
To a man, the players say the key is performing the same in the game as you do on the practice field.
"It starts in practice and meeting rooms," said Moats. "You have to be more consistent with your film study, preparation. When you are on the field you have to be consistent with your efforts and making sure you are mentally focused and doing the right things. Ultimately I feel like we are going to do that this week and it will show on Sunday."
A look at the Jaguars:
Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles, the Jaguars No. 1 pick in the draft this year and the sixth pick overall, made his first NFL start last week against the San Diego Chargers. Bortles completed 29 of 37 passes for 253 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, and the Steelers know the potential the young quarterback has.
"He seems to break a lot of arm tackles, kind of like our quarterback we have here," said safety Mike Mitchell. "He has a good strong arm, he is confident in his arm. He makes a lot of good decisions with the football. He doesn't seem to get as flustered as much as you would think a young quarterback does. He still makes some mistakes because he is human, that's any quarterback. But from what I have seen he looks good."What the Steelers are saying:
Safety Shamarko Thomas: "We just have to work hard and rebound. We work hard every day, putting the time in on the field, watching film. We just have to come together and ball out. We have to have one focus, one mind and win.
We have to rebound and come back."
Nose tackle Steve McLendon: "We believe in our each other, we believe in our brothers, we believe in our coaches and our coaches believe in us. The biggest thing is to go out there and execute and do all of the little things and keep away from the harm that is going to keep us from winning. We just have to stay together. That is the biggest thing; we just have to stay together."
The Jaguars' perspective:
Jaguars Head Coach Gus Bradley: "I know Mike Tomlin pretty well and hold him in a high regard as well as his staff. Just looking at the tape watching the offense and how productive they are, and defensively with Coach LeBeau we know what they're going to bring. It's just that I think we have high, high respect for the Steelers and what they're bringing. And we know it's an exciting opportunity for us and I'm sure we'll grow from this experience and we look forward to it."