George Díaz: Bortles at career crossroads with Jaguars.
JACKSONVILLE — Blake Bortles needed IV fluids during the opening day of practice for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday morning. It involved the usual suspects: Heat, humidity and dehydration.
“You know me, I’m a salty sweater man,” Bortles told the media.
Salty is also the correct word for the language many fans used to assess Bortles’ performance last season. He regressed considerably after a strong 2015 run. As the snaps grew deeper into the season, Bortles’ footwork and mechanics had the feel of a train wreck on any given Sunday.
You wanted to look the other way, but there is a bit of perverse pleasure in seeing something so atrocious at times.
Every off-season provides a measure of comfort, as you travel through all 32 NFL camps. Everybody is optimistic about a Super Bowl run. Excitement reigns! Nobody stinks!
Here in Jacksonville, the Jaguars are just trying to rise up from their 3-13 slumber of 2016. An uptick in Bortles’ play would be huge in that regard.
Bortles ranked eighth in the NFL last season with five 300-plus-yards passing games, and ninth in overall fantasy points on most formats. But the reality is that Bortles regressed
from 35 TDs to 23, his percentage of TD throws dropped from 5.8 to 3.7, and his QB rating dropped 10 points as well.
And an even more disconcerting fun fact: He has 11 career wins, which matches the number of pick-sixes he’s thrown over three seasons.
And no pressure or anything, but Bortles — a former first round draft pick from UCF — is set to make $19 million in 2017. But after the season, Jacksonville can cut Bortles without taking a salary cap hit, assuming he doesn't suffer a major injury.
Bortles has put in the work in the off-season, during OTAs and in the 3DQB facility in California during the spring. There, Bortles re-connected with noted QB guru Tom House.
“Going out there was just grooming everything, making everything consistent, making sure, because you go out there and you’re throwing there, there’s nobody around you, there’s nobody coming at you, you’re not thinking about anything, you’re just throwing,” Bortles said.
“So that’s the kind of stuff you work on and then you bring it out here and hope it holds up and now, when we get out here, it’s about the thought process, the decision making, the accuracy and kind of all the football-related things.”
Now as summertime segues into the fall, it’s more about reps, or getting “a bit more dialed in.”
With a new head coach, Doug Marrone, in the mix, and a return of Tom Coughlin, this time as executive vice president of football operations, the team is definitely more dialed into establishing a running game.
It starts with the hope of an improved offensive line that has been in disarray, and a new man in the backfield in first-round pick Leonard Fournette. The thinking is, less Blake, less pressure, more success.
“That makes my job easier, and I’m fine with that,” Bortles said Thursday. “I’ll throw it five times, I’ll throw it 50 times. Whatever can help us win and whatever is the most efficient way to put up points.”
So now it comes down to the work. In camp. In preseason games, even though there will be a limited number of snaps.
Only 25, Bortles has reached his first career crossroads. Those with vested interests are taking particular attention.
“Where are we from the standpoint of footwork?” Marrone said. “Where are we on the standpoint of progressions and reads and all that stuff? … I think he’s done a good job this offseason maintaining the footwork, the mechanics, the progression of what’s he been doing.”
The emphasis is on progression. No word yet on whether the Jags have Kirk Cousins, a free-agent to be, is on speed-dial.
Any step backward for Bortles likely means his work is done here. The Blake Train either goes Choo-Choo or crashes.