Many pegged Haynesworth (sprained MCL) as the player Tennessee could least afford to lose, and rightfully so. Tennessee was 3-13 without Haynesworth entering Sunday. With two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch (groin) also absent, what would become of the defensive line?
Jones answered that with authority, finishing with 3.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.
"I didn't think it would happen like this," said Jones after glancing over the deluge of text messages he'd received from family and friends 10 minutes after the game ended. "Everything's opening up [for me]."
The Titans turned some heads picking the 6-5, 275-pounder out of Eastern Michigan in the second round, but Jones showed promise immediately during offseason drills. He said he didn't notice any added pressure after the media spotlight surrounding Haynesworth's injury, focusing instead on the opportunity to continue his development and create a scary notion: if Haynesworth returns for the playoffs as expected, Tennessee's third defensive tackle has produced one of the season's most dominant games against the AFC's No. 2 team.
"We knew he was going to have an impact but not as big as it was," linebacker Keith Bulluck said.
Head coach Jeff Fisher admitted some anxiety after losing the proven abilities of Haynesworth and Vanden Bosch.
Kevin Vickerson (suspension) was also unavailable, forcing Jones and Dave Ball to start and increasing the workload of Jacob Ford and William Hayes.
The Titans activated Amon Gordon from the practice squad, placing rookie cornerback Cary Williams (quad) on injured reserve to make room on the 53-man roster. Gordon played in 11 games for three teams during a four-year career before Tennessee decided to promote him to fill in for the injured defensive linemen.
Tennessee's depleted defensive line hurried Roethlisberger all afternoon, stripping the quarterback four times and recovering twice.
With the Titans playing nerve-wrackingly close to their own end zone most of the first quarter, Roethlisberger plowed into a trio of powder blue jerseys on third-and-goal and lost the ball at the 1. William Hayes recovered for Tennessee and Jason Jones was credited with his first forced fumble, stopping Pittsburgh six feet shy of the end zone and jarring LP Field into pandemonium.
"I am very pleased across the board. Our backup defensive linemen, Jason Jones and the effort we got out of that group was nothing less than spectacular," Fisher said. "Coming into this game without Albert and Kyle there was some concern, but all along we felt like we had guys that had the opportunity to play ... and they really stepped up."
Roethlisberger completed 26-of-40 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns, but threw two second-half interceptions to Michael Griffin and was sacked five times in addition to his three fumbles. The defensive line flushed Roethlisberger out of the pocket regularly, finishing with eight quarterback hurries.
"I told [Jones] at the beginning of the week this is an opportunity for him to get on film and show the coaches what you've got, show the other teams what you've got, and show that you're a great player and this is why we drafted you," Griffin said. "I think he played a great game and I've got to give the front four an 'A+' for the way they played today."
