Bortles nears career crossroads
Self-destructive tendencies threaten QB’s future as Jags’ QB
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As Blake Bortles walked solemnly to his postgame news conference, all you could hear was the squeak of his water-soaked Crocs with each step.
Barring a dramatic turnaround, it might also be the sound of a quarterback whose career is sloshing toward Blaine Gabbert territory.
I didn’t think it was remotely possible two months ago to be writing those words. But when the Jaguars took a blowtorch to any remaining hope of salvaging the 2016 season — by losing 24-21 to the Texans at EverBank Field in agonizingly familiar fashion Sunday — it was impossible to ignore the obvious: Bortles can’t stop selfdestructing.
It’s unfair to pin all of this defeat on the Jaguars quarterback because there was plenty of failure by every unit. From a shaky defense that allowed the Texans to accumulate a season-high 181 yards rushing to special teams permitting a 57-yard punt return that set up a Texans TD, there were breakdowns everywhere.
Turnover machine
The problem is, NFL franchises primarily flourish or flop on how the quarterback performs. And right now, Bortles, while on track for a 4,000-yard passing season, is a turnover machine on steroids.
Only by the grace of the official scorer and fate did Bortles get charged with just one interception against the Texans. One attempt at throwing the ball away was ruled a lateral, thus mysteriously turning a pass that ricocheted off the foot of T.J. Yeldon and was caught by Whitney Mercilus into a fumble (even though it never touched the ground).
Two other forced throws by Bortles should have been picked off, one floating right to safety Quintin Demps on a fourth-and-3 and another that went right through cornerback Johnathan Joseph’s hands.
And those two questionable decisions don’t even begin to tell the whole story of another chapter in Bortles’ descent into the quarterback abyss.
For the second consecutive game, he squandered two touchdowns by missing open receivers downfield. It was Allen Robinson twice last week against the Kansas City Chiefs on overthrows.
On Sunday, he mailed a ball over the head of Allen Hurns at the Texans’ 10 as safety Andre Hal trailed the Jaguars receiver by three steps. That would have been a go-ahead touchdown for a 17-14 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Marqise Lee got behind Hal for what should have been another easy TD. Only this time, Bortles underthrew his target, forcing Lee to wait on a ball Hal was able to break up. That drive also ended in a Jaguars punt.
“Missing some deep balls like that, it can happen,” said Jaguars coach Gus Bradley. “They are such big plays in the game, and they stand out. He had a chance. We had a guy beat, and you’d like to capitalize on that, and we didn’t.
“That doesn’t mean that we’re going to shy away from it. We have to come up and make those connections when the time calls for it.”
But here’s the Jaguars’ fastest-growing dilemma: Anyone expecting to be the longterm answer at the NFL’s most important position can’t be 0-for-4 in those situations in back-to-back losses by a combined eight points.
Bit by bit, defeat after defeat in an underachieving 2-7 season, Bortles is losing starter credibility. Not to mention losing a monster payday.
If the Jaguars were 4-5 or 5-4 right now and Bortles’ TD-interception ratio matched last year’s 35-18 pace, Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell would probably be thinking about a major investment in the offseason. Maybe a $100 million contract extension, including a $50 million ballpark guarantee.
Allen in the wings
But now, Caldwell — providing he’s employed here in 2017 — has to be wondering if Bortles is even guaranteed to be the Jaguars’ starter. At this rate, or certainly once this team is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, the Jaguars have to be thinking about getting Brandon Allen some more practice reps.
Bortles is a mess, and aside from just letting him throw his way out of a slump, the Jaguars seem paralyzed on how to fix him. That two-day session with California mechanics guru Adam Dedeaux a couple of weeks back didn’t work.
“I always go to Blake after a series to make sure he’s fine, but it’s not our job to stay there and just be on top of him,” Lee said. “That’s what you don’t want. When I think about Blake being the quarterback, he has to have his mind calm as possible.
“When we come out for a series, we make sure everybody is good. After that, we leave it alone. Now if Blake says we’ve got issues, then we talk everything out.”
Well, guess what? It’s apparent Bortles does have issues. And it just might force the Jaguars to start looking for another answer at a position they thought they had locked up for a long time.