Jaguars Benching Blake Bortles, Will Start Cody Kessler In Week 13

Jaguars HC Doug Marrone announced Monday that Blake Bortles is being benched and they will start Cody Kessler in Week 13 against the Colts.

This comes after the Jaguars made the decision to fire OC Nathaniel Hackett earlier in the day.

The Jaguars are currently in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, so it should come as a big surprise to see them make major changes.

Bortles, 26, was taken with the No. 3 overall pick by the Jaguars back in 2014. He’s currently in the final year of his four-year, $20,654,796 rookie contract and stands to make a base salary of $3,236,565 for the 2017 season.

The Jaguars picked up his fifth-year option and will run them around $19,053,000 for the 2018 season, but elected to sign him to a three-year, $54 million contract worth up to $66.5 million with incentives back in February.

In 2018, Bortles has appeared in 11 games for the Jaguars and completed 60.4 percent of his passes for 2,572 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He has also rushed for 325 yards and a touchdown.

Kessler, 25, is a former third-round pick of the Browns back in 2016. He’s in the third year of his four-year, $3.3 million contract and stands to make base salaries of $758,098 and $912,147 over the final two years of the agreement.

The Browns traded Kessler to the Jaguars this past March for a 2019 seventh-round pick.

In 2018, Kessler has appeared in one game and completed 21 of 30 pass attempts for 156 yards, one touchdown and one interception.