JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -Byron Leftwich and Ben Roethlisberger are young quarterbacks with playoff experience and former Mid-American Conference stars.

They're also avid motorcyclists, a touchy subject for Leftwich since Roethlisberger's life-changing experience in June.

Although Leftwich won't talk specifically about his motorcycles - state records show he has owned at least two bikes since his rookie season - he revealed this week how much Roethlisberger's accident affected him.

``That could have easily been me taking a stroll on my bike,'' Leftwich said. ``That's just the nature of it. It's just something that he does and I do. People don't understand why you do it. How in the world can you ride a bike? People don't understand that, but that's people who don't ride bikes.''

Leftwich and Roethlisberger first met in college. Leftwich was at Marshall, Roethlisberger at Miami of Ohio. They have played against each other twice - once in college (Leftwich won the 2001 meeting, then missed the rematch with a broken ankle) and once in the NFL (Roethlisberger won the 2004 game, then sat out last year with a knee injury).

They will square off again Monday night when the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0) host the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers (1-0). The quarterbacks are sure to talk about their college days, their NFL careers and their motorcycle adventures.

Roethlisberger, who missed the opener following an emergency appendectomy but was expected to return against the Jags, nearly died in a motorcycle accident in June. Roethlisberger's bike slammed into a car that turned into his path. He flew through the air and landed on the car with such force his head left a dent in the car's rooftop and his shoulder crushed the windshield.

He needed seven hours of surgery to repair a broken upper and lower jaw, a broken nose, several orbital bones, and to cosmetically repair the damage. Five plates were inserted into his face. Remarkably, he was back home within three days, working out again within a few weeks and hardly missed a snap during training camp.

Leftwich knows it could have been worse.

``I was worried. That was my first thought,'' Leftwich said. ``But to be honest with you, it was a little frustrating later on in the day to see a lot of people saying, 'I told you so. Why won't you just not ride? Wait 'til you finish playing to ride?'

``I heard somebody say just ride once you're done playing. What does that mean? You don't care about what happens then? First and foremost, I was just more worried about his health. I saw the car, I saw the bike, and I was like, 'Oh, man, that could be bad.' But it was good to see that he came out of that OK.''

Leftwich has declined to say much about his motorcycles since the accident. According to state records, he purchased a stainless steel 2003 Yamaha in October 2003, then bought a black 2004 Suzuki four months later.

He acknowledged that he has ridden since Roethlisberger's crash and said he wears a helmet ''95 percent of the time.''

Despite the safety precaution, Leftwich has been flooded with requests to give up motorcycles altogether.

``When that happened, that's when I started getting calls, 'Put that bike up,''' Leftwich said. ``But people that don't ride just don't understand. It's a fun thing to do. (Roethlisberger) wasn't doing anything dangerous. He was riding a bike, and that's why it's called an accident. The first thing for me and everybody else should have been not, 'I told you so,' but, 'Is he OK? What is his health situation?'''

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