JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -Big Ben is back.

Wearing protective padding around his midsection, Ben Roethlisberger returned to the Pittsburgh Steelers lineup Monday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars - barely two weeks after having surgery to remove his appendix.

The youngest starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl completed 11 of 18 passes for 85 yards through three quarters, however the Steelers trailed 3-0 after Jacksonville's Josh Scobee kicked a 31-yard field goal with 5:24 remaining in the third.

It was Roethlisberger's first regular-season action since the scary offseason motorcycle accident that nearly cost him his life.

The Steelers star broke his nose, upper and lower jaw, some eye socket bones, and got a concussion during his June 12 accident but recovered in time to report for training camp with the rest of the defending champions.

He sat out Pittsburgh's 28-17 season-opening victory over the Miami Dolphins after having an emergency appendectomy on Sept. 3. His status for Monday night's defensive standoff remained in doubt until just before kickoff at sold-out Alltel Stadium.

The Jaguars played without defensive end Reggie Hayward, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in Jacksonville's opener against Dallas, and lost lineman Marcellus Wiley with a strained groin Monday night.

Still, the Jaguars - with help from two punts pinning the Steelers inside their own 10 - were able to keep Pittsburgh from getting anywhere close to scoring. Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward was held without a reception until hauling in an 18-yarder on third-and-20 just over three minutes into the second half.

Jacksonville also did a decent job of pressuring Roethlisberger, knocking him down twice in the first half and finally getting a sack when John Henderson dropped him for a 9-yard loss early in the third quarter.

Neither team had a first down rushing during a rare scoreless opening half, and Pittsburgh linebacker Clark Haggans stopped the Jaguars' most promising drive in the first two quarters with a diving interception on a ball tipped by teammate James Farrior. The half ended with Byron Leftwich throwing a desperation pass that fell incomplete in the end zone.

Roethlisberger faked a handoff to Willie Parker, rolled to his right and threw 10 yards to tight end Jerame Tuman on his first play of the game. He completed an 11-yard pass to Heath Miller on the next play and nearly made it 3-for-3 when his third-down pass to Cedrick Wilson was jarred from the receiver's grasp by Jacksonville's Brian Williams.

Leftwich was 21-of-29 for 190 yards for Jacksonville, which also was involved in the only scoreless first half in the NFL last season. The Jaguars lost that one to Indianapolis 10-3 on Sept. 18.

Jacksonville marched 60 yards in 11 plays to set up Scobee's field goal. The drive featured a 14-yard run by Fred Taylor, as well as completions by Leftwich of 11 yards to Reggie Williams and 13 yards to Matt Jones.

The Jaguars are one of just three teams that have faced Bill Cowher at least five times and have winning records against the Steelers coach. Jacksonville began the night with a 9-8 record against its former division rival, including a 23-17 overtime victory in Pittsburgh last October - one of four games Roethlisberger missed because of injuries in 2005.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.