Even as he sat in the back of a police car sprinting to the hospital to get a precise prognosis on his injured left calf while the Pittsburgh Steelers played on without him during a loss to New England three weeks ago Le'Raven Clark Jersey , Antonio Brown always believed he’d be back.

He just needed time.

When his teammates provided it by assuring the AFC North champions of a first-round bye, Brown pushed his rehab.

By last weekend video surfaced of Brown working out in Florida with former NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco.

And there Brown was on Monday, going through drills with the rest of the Steelers well on track for a return on Sunday against Jacksonville in the divisional round of the playoffs.

”I never count myself out regardless of circumstances,” Brown said. ”I know playing football you’re going to have adversity. Just got to grow from it.”

While stressing he’s ”still got a lot to test,” the only unanimous selection on the 2017 All-Pro Team and the only player in NFL history with five straight seasons with at least 100 receptions appeared to be relatively close to his old self.

”AB is nice,” cornerback Joe Haden said. ”If he’s out there, I expect him to be AB. He’s not going to be out there limping around. When he was running, he looked pretty good. You never know how it’s going to feel afterward, but while he’s out there, while he’s running his routes, he looked like AB.”

Brown left in the first half against New England on Dec. 17 when his legs got tangled with a pair of Patriots defenders while trying to haul in a touchdown pass.

The Steelers lost 27-23 before rebounding to close out the regular season with wins over Houston and Cleveland.

Still http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline.com/rob-kelley-jersey , their best chance at reaching the AFC championship game for a second consecutive season comes with Brown’s No. 84 in the lineup.

The Jaguars have one of the NFL’s top defensive backfields, though Brown still finished with 10 receptions and 157 yards on Oct. 8, the lone bright spot for the Steelers in a 30-9 loss in which Jacksonville scored the final 23 points and left Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger shaken after throwing five interceptions.

Roethlisberger hasn’t shied away from talk of a rematch. That’s fine by the Jaguars.

”Be careful what you wish for,” Jacksonville cornerback AJ Bouye said. ”This is what he wanted. This is what he’s going to get.”

What the Steelers are likely to get in return is a heavy dose of Jaguars rookie running back Leonard Fournette.

He was dominant with 181 yards and two touchdowns against Pittsburgh in October, including a backbreaking 90-yard sprint with 1:47 left that showcased the speed and the power that makes him so dangerous. Jacksonville finished with 231 yards rushing in all, the most given up by the Steelers all season.

It was perhaps the biggest upset in the NFL season at the time. In the rearview, not so much. The Jaguars have proven they’re legit while reaching the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Though Jacksonville cornerback Jalen Ramsey suggested Pittsburgh must feel like the loss was a ”fluke,” the Steelers insist that’s not the case.

”We don’t feel like it was a fluke,” linebacker Bud Dupree said. ”We actually saw the plays they made and everything that was going on and the mistakes that we made and … that’s what happens. We let them get a couple of explosion plays.”

Yet Steelers safety Mike Mitchell is quick to point out the blowout on the scoreboard didn’t exactly reflect what happened on the field. Even with Fournette’s closeout dash to the end zone, Pittsburgh outgained the Jaguars 373-313.

”If you watch that football game, it’s not like their offense exploited us a ton http://www.chicagobearsteamonline.com/jordan-howard-jersey ,” Mitchell said. ”I don’t think it was a dominant performance from that standpoint. I thought we played well enough to win the game. Obviously we didn’t. We’ve got to do better Sunday as a complete team to win the game.”

One of the reasons Roethlisberger wanted another shot at Jacksonville. The two-time Super Bowl winner facetiously wondered if he still ”had it” after turning the ball over repeatedly back in October.

All he did over the second half of the season was throw 18 touchdowns against five interceptions while leading Pittsburgh to a second straight division title and fourth consecutive playoff appearance.

Roethlisberger’s swagger is back. And with Brown nearing a return, the Steelers believe they’re three wins away from a seventh Lombardi Trophy regardless of who may stand in the way.

”(Got to) find a way to win this one,” Brown said, ”and then the next one and the next one.”

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AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville, Fla., contributed to this report.

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SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants will be out to avenge a series defeat on the road last week when they get a rematch with the Miami Marlins in a three-game set that begins Monday night.

The Marlins’ Caleb Smith (5-6, 3.75 ERA) and the Giants’ Andrew Suarez (2-4, 4.92), two young left-handers who dueled Wednesday in Miami, will square off again in the series opener.

Neither pitcher was part of the decision in the Marlins’ 5-4 win on Wednesday, a game in which the Giants blew 2-0 Eddie Goldman Jersey , 3-2 and 4-3 leads en route to a walk-off defeat.

Brian Anderson’s sacrifice fly off Giants closer Hunter Strickland ended the game, which was the Marlins’ third straight narrow victory to open the series.

The Giants salvaged a game in the finale Thursday, prevailing 6-3 in a 16-inning affair started by San Francisco’s Dereck Rodriguez and Miami’s Dan Straily, who are scheduled to hook up again Tuesday.

Smith allowed three runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings in his outing against the Giants last week. It was the first time he faced San Francisco in his career, leaving him with a 0-0 record and 4.26 ERA against them.

The 26-year-old left the team for personal reasons and was placed on the bereavement list later in the week, but he is expected to be reinstated to the active roster in time for Monday’s start.

The second-year major-leaguer has struggled on the road in his career, going 3-5 with a 5.68 ERA. He has never pitched in San Francisco.

Among the eight hits he allowed Wednesday was a two-run homer by Andrew McCutchen, who had quite a series against the Marlins, going 7-for-20 with two doubles, two home runs, five runs scored and five RBIs in the three games.

Nick Hundley and Brandon Belt homered for the Giants in their 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday Chris Jones Jersey , which allowed San Francisco to complete a 4-6 trip.

The Giants have won seven of their last eight home games.

San Francisco played Sunday without third baseman Evan Longoria, who suffered a broken hand Thursday. The Giants also are expecting to be without shortstop Brandon Crawford for the series against the Marlins.

Crawford is scheduled to go on paternity leave Monday, with the birth of his fourth child considered to be imminent.

It’s possible Giants fans will get to see Pablo Sandoval at shortstop in the series. It’s a move San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy indicated could be in the cards after Sandoval was pressed into emergency duty at second base when Joe Panik was injured last month.

“That decision hasn’t been made, until we take a look at Pablo taking a few ground balls at short.” Bochy said recently with a laugh,

Suarez was in line for his third win of the season when he was pulled from last week’s game after five innings with a 3-2 lead. He allowed two runs and five hits in his five innings.

It was the rookie’s first outing against the Marlins. He’s 0-0 with a 3.60 ERA against them.

Smith had two of the Marlins’ five hits off Suarez. He’s now 3-for-20, one of just 30 pitchers to have three or more hits this season.

The Marlins opened a nine-game trip by winning two of three at Baltimore, giving them five wins in their last six games They’ll play three at Colorado later in the week.

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