Posted in: NFL, Sports | Tagged: Blake Bortles, Doug Marrone, entertainment, Jacksonville Jaguars, nfl, sports

Blake Bortles Performance Puts Starting Job In Jeopardy

Published Fri, 18 Aug 2017 18:25:22 -0500

How'd you like to go into work on Monday and find out that there is another person there trying to take your job away, and your boss says that the job is up for grabs? That has to be what Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles has to be feeling right now. Bortles was the third overall pick in the 2014 draft and has started 45 of 46 games for the team, missing 2 games in his rookie season. Yet during the off-season, when it came time to make a decision on the fifth year option for the quarterback…. the Jags said no.

Bortles played his first two years under head coach Guy Bradley and now with Doug Marrone. He also has had three offensive coordinators in that time: Jedd Fisch, Greg Olson and now Nathaniel Hackett. It's well know that stability is key to the development of a young quarterback… Bortles has had none of that.

And then on Thursday night, Marrone tells reporters that there is a quarterback competition going on:

It's this simple: I'm looking for the best person to lead this offense," Marrone told reporters, per John Oehser of the team's website. "[The QB position] is right up there for grabs, and either person can take it.

Marrone said specifically about Bortles:

It's not like he's not the quarterback. He's got to go earn it.

This comes after the Jaguars played poorly against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bortles in particular leading the team to zero points in the first half at home. At times he looked lost and overwhelmed, far more than a fourth year player should. Marrone replaced him with journey man quarterback Chad Henne and kept the rest of the starters in well into the second half to see what they could do with a different signal caller.

Comparing the play of the two quarterbacks so far this pre-season: Bortles is 11 for 18 for 81 yards with no touchdowns and no picks, Henne is 11 for 16 for 183 yards with one TD. Sadly, their third-string QB looked best of all. Brandon Allen is 15 for 22 for 229 yards with two TDs through two exhibitions. But he's not playing with or against starters.

The team brought back Tom Coughlin to try and bring the winning spirit back the team once had when he was the coach. But now as football Tsar and Dave Caldwell as general manager, the team has put together a lot of young talent on both sides of the ball… but it needs a quarterback to make it work. That has been the story of the Jaguars since 2007 when they last made the playoffs or had a winning record. In 2011 the drafted Blaine Gabbert in the first round, a bust who was let go when they turned the reigns over to Bortles. Will he get labeled a bust at some point this season? Will Jacksonville be drafting a new QB in April 2018? Is there starting quarterback for 2017 even on the current roster?

One of the nicknames for the NFL is "Not For Long", and that is especially true for quarterbacks. If Bortles doesn't play well in the next preseason game against the Carolina Panthers in a week, he may not get another chance.

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