Blake Bortles Must Get Better

On Sunday against the Miami Dolphins we saw a Jacksonville Jaguars team that was really clicking. The defense in particular was all over everything the Dolphins tried to do. The running game was working against a vaunted Dolphins defensive line and the team was driving well. Everything was clicking…except Blake Bortles.

Yesterday I wrote that Blake Bortles is not Peyton Manning and that he will take his lumps and we need to appreciate the fact that he is still a rookie.

Yet Blake Bortles must also improve. The rest of the Jaguars have made strides this season while it appears that Bortles has begun a slight regression.

As mentioned previously, this is to be anticipated for a rookie.

While the Jaguars were playing poor football it was more than acceptable for Bortles to struggle (even though he didn’t really struggle) but now that the team has gotten better in all phases of the game (except perhaps on special teams) it is painfully obvious that the quarterback position is falling behind. The Jaguars made a decision to go with Bortles and are going to stick to it (as they should) but there needs to be emphasis added this week on taking care of the football and making good decisions.

Both of which Bortles has been inconsistent on.

Bortles needs to be more game aware. A bad interception here or there is expected by a rookie quarterback, but learning that taking care of the football is more valuable the closer you are to scoring is something that Bortles seems to have skipped over. The Jaguars were able to drive deep into Dolphins territory on Sunday but only came away with six points. That’s unacceptable.

This week as the Jaguars prepare to rebound from a disappointing game more eyes will be on Bortles. He’s becoming a glaringly obvious hiccup on an offense that has otherwise been clicking. He needs to show that he can improve after a bad week (or two).