JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars' plan for rookie quarterback Blake Bortles was for him to sit the bench and develop and then step onto the field as the team’s starting quarterback in 2015.
It was a smart approach, especially with the struggles that emerged along the offensive line and the three rookie receivers that made double-digit mental mistakes -- including running into each other on one play in Week 2. Unfortunately, that strategy imploded after just 10 quarters.
After a lackluster first half in which the offense gained only 55 yards, generated two first downs, and scored zero points, coach Gus Bradley benched veteran Chad Henne and handed the job to Bortles -- and not only for the second half of what turned out to be a 44-17 loss to Indianapolis at EverBank Field.
The Jaguars are Bortles’ team now, and there is no going back. They have committed themselves to riding it out with the talented rookie for the rest of the season, no matter how ugly things become.
"He’s going to go through some learning on the field," Bradley said. "Hopefully for us that learning curve means more good than bad. The challenge for us with him is just keep getting better. I think Blake really understands that’s what it's all about."
It will be ugly at times. It was on Sunday. Bortles, running to his right, threw a pass across his body toward the middle of the field that was so far behind receiver Allen Hurns that cornerback Greg Toler had an easy interception that he returned 47 yards for a touchdown. Bortles also lost the ball in his own end zone, tried to recover it, and had it bounce out of bounds for what would have been a safety -- except the Colts bailed him out by committing an illegal contact penalty to negate the play.
Bortles threw another interception on a deep ball to Allen Robinson and misfired on several other throws, including some that weren’t even close. He went 1-for-5 on his first possession.
"There’s going to be mistakes and that’s part of the game," running back Toby Gerhart said. "Especially for him. Defenses are complex, run checks, whatever it may be, there’s going to be times where he may not check it the right way. But we’ll live with it and make the most out of it."
They will live with it because Bortles also can make plays: Evading defensive end Bjoern Werner on a bootleg, scrambling to his right, and lofting a pass down the sideline to fullback Will Ta'ufo'ou for a 26-yard gain. That is the kind of play Henne hasn’t been able to make -- he was in a similar situation against Washington several times last week and was sacked -- but Bortles can make those plays over and over again.
"He kept plays alive," Bradley said. "He’s got really good instincts. Made some really good decisions and some good throws, and then some of throws that you saw I’m sure he wished he had back. But we’ll learn through those. I just love his mindset. I love the strength that he has. He is tough, hard-nosed, competitor and he will attack.
"And the team felt that part of it. I think it’s no coincidence that all of a sudden we blocked a little bit better; the receivers played a little bit better. He has a way to uplift people and uplift a team."
It certainly won’t be easy for Bortles, especially next week in San Diego. It’s likely he’s going to struggle in his first start now that teams will be game-planning to stop him. He’s going to see more exotic coverages and defenses are going to blitz him mercilessly, especially if the Jaguars' run game continues to be anemic and the defense continues to play poorly.
He might, at times, look even worse than Henne did in the first two-and-a-half games. In fact, it’s a virtual guarantee.
The Jaguars can’t go back to Henne, though. They have jumped on the Bortles train and it's going to be a rough ride in 2014, with the hope that the lumps they take now will make things much smoother next season.
