Jaguars hand Blake Bortles the ball against the Eagles

After talking to both Blake Bortles and Cody Kessler, Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone has named Bortles the starter against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Sometimes, an unpopular decision is the best one for everyone concerned. That might be the case here in Jacksonville. The Jaguars get set to travel to London in two days with a three-game losing streak on their backs and a quarterback situation that is anything but stable. Head coach Doug Marrone decided on Monday to stick with Blake Bortles on Sunday morning against the Philadelphia Eagles after benching him in the second half of the 20-7 loss to the Houston Texans.

The starter’s lease will be short with Cody Kessler on the ready should there be a need to try to resurrect this team’s stagnant offense.

Whether we as a fan base like it or not, sticking with Bortles is the right move – for now. Whether everyone likes it, the Jaguars will more than likely keep the fifth-year starter on the roster next year as well. It’s about dollars and cents and who may or may not be available to come in and take over this team right away.

Per Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com, Bortles and the Jaguars have a relationship that cannot end any time soon.

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"“The three-year contract extension he signed in February pretty much guarantees Bortles will be around in 2019. He is scheduled to have a $21 million cap hit in 2019 and has a dead-money figure of $16.5 million — which would be higher than the salary-cap figure of any other player on the roster. The Jaguars would essentially be paying more to not have Bortles than to have any other player currently on the roster,” he wrote."

There has been plenty of talk and prognostication with us media types over the last three weeks – time the Jaguars would love to forget. Tyrod Taylor in Cleveland. Derek Carr in Oakland. Even Colin Kaepernick. They all have been mentioned as possible replacements by outside media. No one in the organization is talking publically about making a move to change the man under center.

For now, this is the Jacksonville Jaguars, a beat up team on offense and a puzzling enigma on defense with a coaching staff that is being questioned by the minute about how it is doing its job.

Following his talk with the media on Monday, where he said he would make a decision by Tuesday who would start against the Philadelphia Eagles, an announcement was made.

"“I spoke to both quarterbacks this afternoon and told them that Blake will be our team’s starting quarterback,” Marrone said in a statement. “I believe this gives us the best opportunity to win.”"

The fans may not agree. Kessler came in and led the team to its only points of the game. While he did not light the world on fire, he was effective in moving the ball and the team downfield. There are limitations to Kessler’s game, as there are in how Bortles still deals with the same issues of inconsistency that have plagued him all his career.

A conundrum is what these Jaguars face with the most important position on the team.

"“I think once you put a person out there – no matter what position, quarterback or anything – you’re trusting in that confidence that player is going to get it done,” Marrone told the media. “Then I think it’s a matter of performance and basically what the situation calls for at the time. I think it’s hard to go ahead and say ‘short [leash], long [leash],’ whatever it may be. The mindset is, ‘Hey, this is who is playing. This is what we have going on.’ And you have the utmost confidence in it. If you don’t and you’re putting someone in there and you don’t feel comfortable with it, that’s a problem before it even gets started.”"

The offense will look a little different this week from a personnel standpoint. newly acquired Carlos Hyde should be active for the game to aid the running game. The team announced Jamaal Charles has been released. Jacksonville is still dealing with a lack of depth at tight end and a patchwork offensive line at left tackle.

The rest of the line has done little to protect the quarterback.

Now that the Jaguars have a quarterback in place, the focus is now on beating the Eagles and ending a three-game losing streak. The team also needs to find a way to score in the first half for the first time since their 31-20 win over the New York Jets one month ago.

dark. Next. Jacksonville Jaguars: Someone must step forward for the team

Bortles was only 6 of 12 for 61 yards when he was benched. He fumbled the ball twice in the game against Houston, which was a major factor in the move to make a change in the second half of the loss on Sunday.

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