| Advertisement |
Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone named Blake Bortles the team's starting quarterback for the season opener against the Houston Texans. The announcement Saturday morning comes two days after the Jaguars started Chad Henne in their third preseason game and a little more than a week after Marrone opened up the job up for competition.
Advertisement
The Jaguars return to practice Saturday afternoon and close the preseason next Thursday night on the road against the Atlanta Falcons before preparing for the Sept. 10 opener in Houston.
Marrone indicated the competition between Bortles and Henne would continue into the preseason finale after neither quarterback did enough to win the job in the Jaguars' 24-23 loss to the Carolina Panthers at EverBank Field on Thursday night.
"I'm sure both quarterbacks would have liked to have done a better job, but offensively I think everyone needs to do a better job," Marrone said after the third preseason game. "Like I said to you guys earlier in the week, I'm not going to stand up here and comment a lot on the two. I'm going to go back and look at things and see where we're at.
"I've got to do the best job for the organization and best job for the team. I'm not going to put that pressure on myself to say, 'Hey, listen, I need to do this (quickly).' I've got time. Again obviously you'd like to make the decision quickly, but you want to make sure you make the right decision. That's the most important thing."
Bortles is 23 of 34 passing for 206 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the preseason. He played most of the second half on Thursday, finishing 12 of 16 for 125 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. He also threw an interception that was returned 48 yards and set up a touchdown in the third quarter.
"I think you can roll over and lay down or you can just keep working and grinding and try to earn that spot back,'' Bortles told reporters after the game. '"Those are the two options and you pick one and go. I knew I going to get an opportunity to play on Thursday night and that's where I was going to have a chance to show what I've been doing and what I can do. We both know that whoever ends up being the starting quarterback, if that's what's best for the team then I think we're both happy about it."
Bortles, the third overall pick in the 2014 draft and the Jaguars' starter since Week 4 of his rookie season, struggled in his previous preseason outing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that essentially opened up the starting job.
The 25-year-old Bortles is 11-34 as a starter in his three seasons, throwing for 11,241 yards with 69 touchdowns and 51 interceptions and a 58.8 completion percentage.
Henne, 32, started against Carolina and played the first half, completing 8 of 14 for 73 yards and leading two scoring drives. He is 19 of 30 for 256 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in the preseason.
Henne, who started 22 games for the Jaguars from 2012-2014, has served as the backup every game since Bortles became the starter.
