The Jacksonville Jaguars have eased back on the workload for quarterback Blake Bortles in recent days. Head coach Doug Marrone says the reason is because he believes Bortles is dealing with a tired throwing arm.
“I just saw that his arm looked tired,” Marrone said, via the Associated Press. “So rather than push him knowing he was going to get all the reps that we needed for these next couple of days, I just said, ‘Hey, it’s my decision.’ He said, ‘Hey, I’m good. I can go.’ I said, ‘Look, let’s just be smart.’”
Bortles was intercepted twice during the Jaguars’ practice on Sunday. Marrone initially called the decision to scale back Bortles’ reps as putting the fourth-year quarterback on a “pitch count.”
He then clarified the comments toward Bortles on Monday.
Bortles has struggled to find consistent success in his three seasons as the Jaguars’ quarterback. He’s never completed more than 59 percent of his passes for a season, thrown at least 16 interceptions each year and been a part of just eight wins over that span. While wins certainly don’t fall completely on the quarterback’s plate, the position usually can go a pretty significant way toward determining which team wins on a given Sunday.
They’ll need him to take a major leap forward to justify keeping him beyond the 2017 season.
