Between wrist surgery
Robert
Thomas Jersey , signing a $54 million contract and nearly getting robbed,
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles had quite the start to the
offseason.
His next phase probably won’t create as much buzz, but it’s much more important to the team’s success in 2018.
Bortles opened organized team activities Tuesday behind a revamped offensive line and with three new passing targets – all part of a plan to improve an
offense that featured the league’s top rushing attack last season.
”I have always believed that when your quarterback is ahead of everyone, and the rest of the offense has to catch up, that is a pretty good thing,” coach
Doug Marrone said. ”You don’t want the quarterback trying to catch up to the
rest of the offensive players. I think that Blake is in a good spot as far as
what he knows of the offense, what we want to do. It’s just another year.
”I think that’s why you see those quarterbacks that stay in these systems for a long period of time and play for a long period of time that do such a good
job.”
Bortles threw for 3,687 yards, with 21 touchdowns and a career-low 13 interceptions in 2017. He was at his best in the postseason, throwing for 594
yards and three scores without a turnover.
Interceptions and fumbles were among Bortles’ biggest faults during his first three years in the league. He limited them down the stretch last season and
eliminated them in the playoffs, helping the Jaguars reach the AFC championship
game.
”You want to have that every game,” said Bortles
Tom Savage
Jersey , who had surgery to repair a partially torn ligament in his right
wrist in late January. ”Just wanting to make sure that no matter what I did I
gave us a chance to win. I knew that if I didn’t turn the ball over we’re going
to have a chance to win every game. That should be and it is my mindset every
single game we play. I think it was only heightened in the playoffs to make sure
I wasn’t the reason we couldn’t win the game.”
The Jaguars rewarded Bortles with a three-year contract that included $26.5 million guaranteed, making him the team’s starter for at least the next two
seasons.
”The contract stuff doesn’t really change anything about how I think or how I approach every day,” he said.
The biggest difference, he said, is having continuity. The Jaguars returned their entire coaching staff, giving Bortles and offensive coordinator Nathaniel
Hackett a solid foundation to start from during OTAs.
”We talked about it this morning: Kind of taking it to the next level,” said Bortles, who didn’t have the freedom to audible early last season. ”He kind of
gave me the green light to go ahead … as far as what you’re doing versus all the
different looks and not just running the play called, (but) getting yourself in
the best play possible.”
Bortles will have a much different supporting cast to work with in 2018.
Donte Moncrief and rookie DJ Chark replaced receivers Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns, and tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins stepped in for longtime
starter Marcedes Lewis.
Moncrief and Chark are expected to bring more speed to Jacksonville’s offense, which coaches are counting on to help loosen up defenses and create
more room for bruising running back Leonard Fournette. The addition of All-Pro
guard Andrew Norwell should help, too.
Bortles will use the next few months to build a rapport with those newcomers. If it includes any
dinners
David
Sharpe Jersey , Bortles probably will be sure to lock his truck.
Bortles had his wallet stolen and pickup truck nearly hijacked earlier this month from teammate Brandon Linder’s driveway during an offensive line dinner.
An 18-year-old Jacksonville man was arrested and charged with auto theft, auto
burglary and trespassing.
Bortles left his keys inside his unlocked truck, but other vehicles parked around it prevented the man from driving away.
”He checked my truck out a little bit and left it nice and clean for me,” joked Bortles, who has since teamed up with local police to help prevent
automobile burglaries. ”It was all right. … Glad to be back playing football,
running around. It feels good to kind of be back to some familiarity.”
—
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The Winnipeg Whiteout — that tradition which has Jets fans celebrating the region’s often inclement winter weather by wearing white to
playoff games — seemed like a good idea, especially as raucous home crowds
helped spur the Jets to a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven first round playoff
series with the Minnesota Wild.
The concept of a whiteout was less fun for the Jets come Saturday, as they tried to make their way to the Twin Cities for Game 3. A freak April blizzard
hitting central Minnesota shut down MSP Airport during the day, forcing the Jets
to land in Duluth, Minn., in the early afternoon.
The Jets’ plane returned to Winnipeg Drew
Bledsoe Jersey , so the club will fly to Minneapolis tomorrow morning.
That’s about the worst thing that has happened to Winnipeg so far in the playoffs, as the Jets have dominated the last five periods of this series and
even survived the Wild’s attempt to send a message in the final seconds of Game
2 as fists flew all over the ice in a “playoff normal” show of increasing bad
blood between these Central Division rivals.
This franchise has never won a road playoff game, and as much as they enjoyed home ice in the first two games, the Jets are aware that a less-than-friendly
reception is likely in Minnesota.
“They’re the next-best home team in the National Hockey League and they’re going to get into their comfort zone real good,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said
Saturday before the team left and returned to Winnipeg. “It’s a loud building,
so what we need to do is handle it. Our game won’t change, the things that we
want to accomplish on the ice, but it’s going to feel different on the
bench.”
The Wild, who along with Anaheim and Pittsburgh are among only three teams in the NHL to make the playoffs in each of the past six consecutive seasons, headed
home Friday night in a sadly familiar position. Minnesota has trailed a series
2-0 in five of those six playoff seasons, including a year ago when it lost the
first two at home and fell to St. Louis in five games.
The pre-series concern for Minnesota was how their defense would fare without mainstay Ryan Suter, who was lost for the season with an ankle injury.
Instead Cory James
Jersey , the concern after 120 minutes of hockey has been the Wild
offense, which has managed only three goals and 37 shots in two games. The Wild
lost three consecutive games just once this season.
“No matter how you cut it, guys play for seven months, and if they go down 0-2, they’re a little bit disappointed, but it’s not like getting down 0-2 in
your building and having to go to their building,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
said after the team practiced in its rink Saturday. “I don’t think we’ve got any
room for rest. We’ve got to play our absolute best.”
Although Boudreau allowed extra rest for defenseman Matt Dumba, who has averaged 28 minutes, 30 seconds of ice time in the first two games as they try
to fill the gap caused by Suter’s absence. Dumba stayed home from practice
Saturday under orders from the coach, who said he will be ready on
Sunday.
Womens Albert Wilson Jersey
