Jaguars Name Blake Bortles Starting Quarterback

Jaguars coach Doug Marrone announced starting that Blake Bortles will be the team’s starting quarterback for Week 1.

This comes just a few days after the Jaguars started veteran Chad Henne in their third preseason game.

It appeared as though the Jaguars were planning to open the year with Henne under center, but they apparently still believe in Bortles and are hoping he can perform at a higher level when the games count.

There is some risk involved here for Jacksonville, as an injury could trigger Bortles $19.05 million salary for the 2018 season and make it guaranteed.

Bortles, 24, 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, according to Joel Corry, and is guaranteed only for injury.

In 2016, Bortles appeared in all 16 games and threw for 3,905 yards while completing 58.9 percent of his passes to go along with 23 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 28 quarterback out of 34 qualifying players.