1:03 pm | September 30, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Playoff-mode Blake Bortles showed up on Sunday for the Jacksonville Jaguars against the New York Jets.
Bortles threw for a career-high 388 yards and two touchdowns in the Jaguars’ 31-12 victory in front of 65,353 at TIAA Bank Field. He completed his first 11 passes, threw one away to avoid a sack, then connected on his next five in the first half.
It was a bounce-back performance for Bortles, who didn’t play well in a 9-6 loss to Tennessee a week earlier, and it was reminiscent of the way he performed in the 2017 playoffs. The only negative play was a throw tipped at the line of scrimmage by linebacker Avery Williamson and intercepted by cornerback Darryl Roberts.
Other than that, it was just what the Jaguars (3-1) needed before back-to-back road games at Kansas City and Dallas. It’s also what the Jaguars need from Bortles at least the next few weeks — and possibly longer — because it looks like he’s going to have to carry the offense after injuries to running back Leonard Fournette and center Brandon Linder.
Fournette experienced hamstring tightness late in the first half and was pulled from Sunday’s game. He had missed the previous two games with the injury, which he suffered late in the first half of the season opener against the New York Giants. Fournette went back into the game shortly afterward, but the team decided to shut him down for the second half.
Even if that was just a precautionary move — which seems likely, considering the Jaguars were ahead 16-0 at halftime and dominating the Jets (1-3) — it’s still troublesome. Maybe sitting Fournette for the second half will be enough to ensure that his hamstring doesn’t sustain further damage and become a chronic issue.
Fournette said it on Friday: “It’s tricky with hamstrings. You can feel good one day, then something else might happen, you know what I mean?”
The Linder injury also has the potential to be a huge issue. He has been their best offensive lineman, and that unit was already down one starter after left tackle Cam Robinson‘s season-ending knee injury. Right guard A.J. Cann is dealing with a right triceps injury, and right tackle Jermey Parnell is dealing with a chronic minor knee injury.
With Linder hurt, the only healthy starter is left guard Andrew Norwell. Back injuries are like hamstring injuries; they can linger a while, too. So the Jaguars could be starting a pair of backups — left tackle Josh Wells and center Tyler Shatley — and be without their best offensive player (Fournette) heading into a critical stretch of the season.
Not having Fournette and Linder had an obvious impact on the Jaguars in the second half against the Jets. Instead of feeding Fournette the ball to eat up clock and salt the victory away, the Jaguars relied on T.J. Yeldon (who fumbled, which led to a Jets TD) and short passes. Receiver Dede Westbrook fumbled one of those away, too, inside the red zone.
It’s unclear how long those injuries could keep Fournette and Linder out of the lineup. That’s why Bortles — who is now second on the franchise’s all-time passing yardage list (16,003) — has to consistently play the way he did for much of the game against the Jets. He doesn’t need to throw for 300 yards each week, but the offense has to run through him instead of the run game. He needs to be efficient, take shots down the field when they get the right look and not turn the ball over.
He needs to be quarterback who led the Jaguars to the AFC title game in January.
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