Jags’ Bortles draws flak as subpar QB
The Jacksonville Jaguars will take the field for an AFC divisional playoff game Sunday in Pittsburgh as one of the final eight teams still playing in this NFL season, and with a future as bright as their present.
Their new regime of coach Doug Marrone and front-office czar Tom Coughlin has reinvigorated the franchise. The young defense is terrific, and rookie running back Leonard Fournette appears to be the real deal.
And then there’s Blake Bortles.
It almost has become too easy to question or ridicule Bortles, the fourth-year quarterback who has mixed moments of promise with far too many mistakes and discouraging backward steps throughout his NFL career.
But the ease of it doesn’t seem to stop anyone. Houston Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney derided Bortles’ on-field abilities this season by calling him “trash” — and that was when Bortles was playing well.
Just this week, Tennessee safety Kevin Byard said he plans to make New England quarterback Tom Brady “look like Blake Bortles if I can, and try to catch a couple picks” in their playoff game on Saturday.
And former NFL quarterback Chris Simms said of the Jaguars, “They are the best team. The problem is, they have the 70th-best quarterback.”
Bortles has become accustomed to such talk. “It’ll probably never stop,” he said this week. “There are people who think LeBron James sucks, so I’m sure there will be a lot of people who always think I suck.”
Bortles threw 13 interceptions during the regular season, bringing his fourseason NFL total to 64. He somehow managed to have more rushing yards (88) than passing yards (87) in a 10-3 wild-card win over Buffalo last Sunday.
It’s enough to wonder: How good would the Jaguars be with a quarterback better than Bortles?
“Even in the short
term, he’s a question mark,” former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann said. “It takes forever for him to get the ball out of his hand. His accuracy is questionable.
“Eventually, you can only protect the quarterback position so much. … Bortles won’t be the quarterback of the Jaguars next year.”
That remains to be seen. The Jaguars picked up their fifthyear option in Bortles’ rookie contract, at a salary of more than $19 million, for next season. But that option year is guaranteed only for injury. So the Jaguars still could move on from Bortles if they choose.
“Everyone understands the value of a quarterback,” Theismann said. “With that number at $19 million, I can’t imagine Jacksonville paying him that kind of money. His delivery is so slow. Could it be fixed? It could be. But do you pay someone $19 million to see if he can fix that?”
For now, Bortles will try to rebound from a 12-of-23 passing performance against the Bills as the thirdseeded Jaguars attempt to upset the secondseeded Steelers and advance to the AFC title game.
In the regular season, Bortles completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 3,687 yards and 21 touchdowns to go with the 13 picks.
“Pittsburgh is going to make him throw the football, and I think the Jaguars are going to struggle,” Theismann said. “To be honest, there really isn’t anything I’m impressed with. If you keep him in the pocket, you’re going to control their offense.”
Bortles acknowledged after the Bills game that it’s “usually not ideal” for a quarterback to have more rushing than passing yards in a game. But as least it was part of a winning effort, he said.
“We get to play again. That’s all you can ask for,” Bortles said.