It turns out, Steelers fans are better at stopping Leonard Fournette than the Steelers' defense.
On Tuesday, two days after the Jaguars shocked the Steelers to advance to the AFC title game, the Jaguars' rookie running back was involved in a car accident that totaled his 2017 Mercedes Maybach, but didn't result in any injuries. On Thursday, Fournette revealed that the person who accidentally rear-ended him was actually a Steelers fan whose family attended the Jaguars' thrilling win at Heinz Field. And so, that ends the far-fetched idea that the Patriots would go so far as to cause a car accident in order to secure a win in Sunday's AFC title game.
"Actually they had pictures from the game," Fournette said, according to ESPN. "I think her in-laws didn't know who I was until everybody started taking pictures with me and then they were like, 'We were at the game going against y'all. It was cold.' Things like that."
The Steelers fan did apologize.
"I was good," Fournette said. "I had my seatbelt on so I wasn't really worried. Just making sure everybody was all right and everybody was in great health."
There weren't any injuries, but Fournette did lose his bumper to the crash. He ended up signing it for one of the first responders.
"It was crazy because I wasn't really worried about it," Fournette said. "The bumper was on the ground and I was in the car waiting for the police to come and he just came out of nowhere like, 'Man, can you sign this for me?' I'm like, 'You want me to sign a bumper?' And he was like, 'Yeah.'
"Whatever, it's cool."
During their win over the Steelers, Fournette rumbled for 109 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries, rediscovering some of his early season magic. The Steelers failed to stop him at the goal line ...
On 4th-and-goal...@_fournette DIVES for the @Jaguars TD! #JAXvsPIT #NFLPlayoffs
— NFL (@NFL) January 14, 2018
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/a4EmjVmg2I
and in the open field ...
WOW.@_fournette is IN for his second TD of the day! #JAXvsPIT #NFLPlayoffs
— NFL (@NFL) January 14, 2018
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/hyixyAj8KS
However, he did suffer an ankle injury during the game, which could impact his effectiveness against a Patriots defense that allowed the second-most yards per carry during the regular season, but shut down Derrick Henry a week ago in their win over the Titans. At the very least, it's an injury that is worth monitoring -- just like Tom Brady's hand injury that prevented him from practicing Thursday.
As you can see below, Fournette's ankle apparently bothered him last weekend:
Fournette’s season-long trend: runs like a beast when healthy, but gains hesitance and loses explosiveness when banged up (naturally).
— Chris Wesseling (@ChrisWesseling) January 17, 2018
Before ankle injury last week: 12 for 72, 6.0 YPC, 8 rushes of 5+ yards
After ankle injury: 13 for 27, 2.08 YPC, 1 rush of 5 yards
You can stream Sunday's AFC Championship Game on CBSSports.com.