Can Blake Bortles hold the Jacksonville Jaguars accountable?
By Luke Sims
Blake Bortles is undoubtedly the leader of the Jacksonville Jaguars and needs to hold his team accountable following the sloppy play in Preseason Week 3.
There are few NFL players that are more demanding of perfection than New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. His lambasting of his team when they make mistakes is not only exciting to watch but shows just how much passion he has for the game.
It also shows just how much he values winning. It shows how much he values the integrity of the team. Brady’s sideline tirades are a byproduct of his need for perfection and demand for that same perfection from everyone else.
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles had plenty of moments in the 26-21 win over the Cincinnati Bengals to channel his inner Brady and demand better from himself and his teammates. What we all got to see, however, was his flat statement that the team played poorly.
It isn’t that this is a bad thing (it was a mid-game interview after all) or that Bortles doesn’t hold his team accountable. He just has a different approach to demanding better than someone like Brady.
Bortles is coming into his own as a quarterback and a leader. He is still figuring out how best to lead this team and demand better from them. There are few more difficult tasks than motivating people.
What the Bengals game and its subsequent aftermath tell me more than anything else is that the growing process is still ongoing. There is still development for Bortles to go through as he learns the ropes of what being a franchise quarterback entails.
This seems like a “no shit” moment a little bit, but it is also one that needs to be hammered home. The Jags – especially the budding stars – are still tremendously young. Bortles will grow into his role and demand perfection from his teammates just like the other top quarterbacks in the league.
He’ll have to, because these young Jags need to grow up fast.