PITTSBURGH — Troy Polamalu may take on the challenge of defending what he calls the AFC's best quarterback with one good arm.

Polamalu, the Pittsburgh Steelers' All-Pro safety, has an injured left shoulder that effectively forced him to play at far less than 100 percent efficiency in a 9-0 loss to Jacksonville on Monday.

"There's a lot of things I could have done better, so that's how good it (the shoulder) is," he said.

Complicating matters, Polamalu has a short week to get well for Sunday's game against Cincinnati and his former Southern Cal roommate, Carson Palmer. To Polamalu, Palmer "probably is the best offensive player in the league."

"You've just got to fight your way through it, just like everyone else on the team," Polamalu said. "With any injury, you're restricted in some way. But there are a lot of people playing in pain and with injuries I'm sure people don't know about."

Polamalu may have missed making an interception against the Jaguars because of the injury that occurred in the Sept. 7 opener against Miami but, he said, "It's time to move on."

That's the problem: The Steelers (1-1) are moving on to perhaps the biggest home game of the season with a secondary that's not playing all that well and a running game that almost disappeared against the Jaguars, gaining 26 yards.

The Steelers, excellent on defense during their Super Bowl run last winter, have allowed 492 yards passing in two games — an excessive number for a team that was No. 4 overall in defense last season. Jacksonville's Byron Leftwich threw for 260 yards against them Monday even without leading a touchdown drive.

Polamalu knows the Steelers can't be so soft in coverage against Palmer, who threw three TD passes against them in a 38-31 Bengals victory in December that all but clinched the AFC North for them.

"It's obvious the key to their offense is Carson," Polamalu said. "Those guys (wide receivers) do a great job and they could play exactly as they do on any team, but definitely the heart and soul is Carson."

Palmer, of course, will be opposing the Steelers for the first time since his left knee was shredded by a tumbling Kimo von Oelhoffen on the Bengals' first pass play of their 31-17 playoff loss to the Steelers in Cincinnati in January.

Palmer promised then to return to play Pittsburgh this season and he has, and what has been equally surprising about his fast comeback is how well he has played. He is 37-for-59 for 479 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The running game the Steelers had Monday wasn't their usual running game. Willie Parker was limited to 20 yards on 11 carries after having 115 yards against Miami. That inability to run the ball forced the Steelers to lean on rusty quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for their offense.

But there wasn't much of it as they were held to 167 yards.

"Everything is predicated off the run," wide receiver Hines Ward said.

Roethlisberger figures to be sharper now that he's finally played a game — he missed the Miami game with appendicitis.

Notes: Linebacker Joey Porter was cited by police after two dogs he owns got off his property and killed a miniature horse on a nearby farm.Porter lives in Pine Township, north of Pittsburgh, but officials with the Northern Regional Police said Porter's dogs were licensed in his hometown of Bakersfield, California, not in Allegheny County.Porter was cited for harboring dangerous dogs, failure to confine the dogs, and failure to have the dogs licensed. The fines carry several hundred dollars in potential fines.