Blake Bortles has the controls of a young, talented Jacksonville offense. Photo Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –Most any NFL quarterback would gladly welcome the type of year and numbers that Jacksonville Jaguars signal caller Blake Bortles put up in 2015. But the third-year pro wants more.
As a rookie, Bortles was thrown into the lineup in the second half of the third game of the 2014 season. That had not been the game plan. Jaguars’ officials and coaching staff had said all along how they wanted the rookie out of Central Florida to learn his first season, mopping up behind incumbent Chad Henne. But Henne struggled through the first 2 1/2 games and the decision was made to insert Bortles into the starting lineup and let him now learn on the fly.
The result was predictably bad. Though he threw for a franchise rookie record of 2,908 yards, a good number of those yards came late in games when the Jaguars had no choice but to throw the ball against defenses that were playing soft, only worried about not allowing the long ball. Bortles finished with 11 touchdown passes but 17 interceptions.
All but the interception numbers improved last year. He set franchise records for pass attempts (606), completions (335), yards (4,428) and touchdowns (35). The latter was the second highest total in the league, trailing only New England’s Tom Brady, who had 36. Bortles joins Dan Marino as the only first- or second-year quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4.400 –plus yards and 35-plus touchdowns.
Impressive numbers, but Bortles feels they can be even better in 2016. He believes he’s a better quarterback this year and thus can post higher numbers with better results.
“Yeah, I think so, definitely,” Bortles replied this week when asked if he felt he personally had improved from a year ago. “If I wasn’t, then it would be pretty disappointing. I think going in a second year in the system, I think, personally, the decisions that have been better. As a whole there are some bad decisions and bad throws and there probably always will be, but trying to minimize those as much as possible and try to find ways to be efficient.”
One advantage that Bortles will have this season is that he’ll be working under the same offensive coordinator for a second straight season. Greg Olson returns to lead the Jaguars offense after helping the team improve its scoring output from 15 points a game in 2014 to less than 25 a game a year ago.
Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley said the importance of continuing the same offensive scheme for another year will be a plus for Bortles.
“You are seeing first and the importance of continuity and being in the same system,” Bradley said. “He definitely is owning more, but he understands the protections and where the issues are and what he wants to attack. I am feeling a guy that is more poised, more confident. He has always been pretty confident, but just how he is handling it. You see him talking to the offensive line and the receivers and that is what we hoped we would see.”
Bortles concurs. He feels comfortable working under Olson for the second year in a row.
“It definitely feels good. It feels good to come in and have a bit of a foundation on both sides, physical and mentally,” Bortles said. “We were in a system for a year last year and not to say that we have it or anywhere near that mastering of what we’re trying to do, but I think having a bit of a foundation physically and mentally helps definitely for me. I think it allows me to feel more comfortable about things for sure.”
Bortles showed good consistency in 2015. He threw a touchdown, passing 15 straight games from Sept. 13 to Dec. 27, the longest streak in franchise history. He became the youngest quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000-plus yards and 35-plus TDs in a single season. He finished the season with 72 completions of 20-plus yards, the most in the NFL and the most ever in a season by a Jaguars quarterback.
The Jaguars quarterback said he’s comfortable with talking to other NFL quarterbacks about advice for playing in the NFL, even if it’s someone who his team will face during the season. That includes Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whom the Jaguars will see the first week of the regular season. Bortles played golf with Rodgers this summer and asked him various questions.
“One thing I wanted to find out was if you could do things differently at 24 years old in your second or third year, what would you do differently?,” Bortles said. What do you think are things that are necessary that I should 100 percent be doing?
“And just ask about schedules. I’m always curious what guys do during a game week. What do you do on Tuesday? What do you watch? What do you do on Wednesday? Just picking different people’s brains and that’s why it’s so good to have Chad (Henne) here because he’s been around for some time; he’s been in some different places and some different systems so obviously he’s a big help in having an understanding of that.”
