Jacksonville Jaguars plan to give Blake Bortles ‘a year or two to develop’
By Josh Sanchez
Jacksonville Jaguars fans are excited about the Blake Bortles era. They may not be as excited about the Cleveland Browns fans eagerly awaiting the start of the Johnny Manziel era, but Jaguars fans did turn out in record numbers for one of Bortles first practices at rookie minicamp.
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After being taken with the No. 3 overall pick, the Jaguars fan base may be expecting big things from the former UCF star, but they may have to wait.
According to Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley, the team plans to give Bortles some time to develop behind Chad Henne who they could be prepared to start throughout the 2014 regular season.
“[W]e really felt comfortable with him coming back, with a another year in the system,” Bradley said on the NFL Network as transcribed by Pro Football Talk.. “And I think it gave us flexibility. Then when Blake was there available for us, we really wanted to capture that opportunity. We do feel good about where Blake’s at, but we feel like this time that he has under Chad — a year to develop — will be really good in the end result.”
Bradley and company are ready to roll with Henne for at least this year, but if Bortles is able to continue rapidly improving throughout team OTAs and shows that he is the better quarterback throughout the preseason and training camp, the Jaguars just may have to reassess their situation and plan of attack.