Blake Bortles Reached Out to Draft Picks, Ready to Work With Rookies

The Jacksonville Jaguars held a press conference on Thursday with a handful for of their newly adopted rookies, with the annual rookie minicamp on the horizon. The Jaguars brought in an impressive haul of players last weekend, and they’ll be joining what is statistically the youngest team in the NFL.

The offensive side of the ball in particular is historically young, with 2nd-year quarterback Blake Bortles being the primary cog in the offense. After a relatively rough rookie season, Blake Bortles needs to do a fair amount of work in the offseason to make a sizeable leap in his second year. While his mechanics and decision making need work, his leadership appears to be evident this offseason. After holding a passing camp in California with his receivers earlier in the year, Bortles continued to cement his role as the “guy” on the Jaguars by texting and encouraging the rookies who were just added to the squad.

"Three of the offensive players – third-round guard A.J. Cann, fifth-round receiver Rashad Greene and seventh-round receiver Neal Sterling – said quarterback Blake Bortles quickly texted them after they were selected."

It’s fair to assume that Bortles probably texted all of the offensive rookies, not just the ones who were at the press conference on Thursday. It may not seem like much, but a small gesture like texting rookies as soon as they join the team is an intangible factor in the nebulous “it” people are looking for in their quarterback. Neal Sterling out of Monmouth vocalized how much it meant to him to hear from Bortles:

"“It just shows me that he is really excited,” Sterling said. “It shows me that he is kind of putting his faith in players like me and other draft picks. It’s a really exciting time and hopefully we can get it going, start up and do well.”"

Bortles still has a ways to go in regards to his physical and mental development as an NFL quarterback, but he appears to already be there in terms of gaining the respect from his teammates.

Next: Can the Jaguars Beat the Panthers Week 1?

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