NFL Preseason Blitz: Jaguars QB Blake Bortles makes strides
Blake Bortles looked really good last preseason. Then, once the regular season started, he fell into bad habits behind a really bad offensive line and had a so-so rookie season.
So Friday night’s promising performance isn’t absolute proof that last year’s third overall pick is going to take a huge step this season. But the Jacksonville Jaguars will focus on the positive, and there was plenty of it.
Bortles went 11-of-15 for 118 yards and had a nice 4-yard touchdown run in a 23-21 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, reaching out for the pylon to score. Even two of his incompletions were cause for optimism. On a third down, he adeptly stepped up in the pocket when the rush was coming from his right, keeping his eyes downfield the whole time, and just missed on the throw. Everything before barely misfiring on the throw was good to see, especially for a developing quarterback. On another incompletion, Bortles had a lot of protection and threw a strike about 25 yards downfield that was dropped by tight end Clay Harbor.
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The Jaguars’ night wasn’t without some concerning moments. The worst news was that tight end Julius Thomas suffered what NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said was a fractured finger. Rapoport said Thomas broke his middle finger, but that should only minimally affect him. Per Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union, it’s a “small fracture.” At very least, it seems like a good bet the Jaguars’ big free-agent addition will miss the rest of the preseason.
Left tackle Luke Joeckel, once the No. 2 overall pick of the draft who struggled badly last year, was beaten easily by Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison for a sack. The defense gave up an easy scoring drive to start the game, culminating with Martavis Bryant getting behind cornerback Davon House for an easy 44-yard touchdown.
But the biggest thing for the Jaguars this season is Bortles’ development. If he is the franchise quarterback they figured they were drafting last year, it’ll give a lot of hope to the organization. He looked pretty good in his first 2015 action.
The focus will be on Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota committing two bad turnovers, one that led to a field goal and the other that was returned for a touchdown, but it’s worth pointing out that there was a defense that caused those turnovers.
The Atlanta Falcons want a new aggressive mindset on defense with new coach and former Seattle Seahawks coordinator Dan Quinn, and that showed in the Falcons’ preseason opening 31-24 win over the Titans.
On Mariota’s interception on the first drive, linebacker Justin Durant diagnosed a screen play immediately, and broke at just the right time to snatch the pass away for a pick. Durant was added to the defense via free agency this offseason, and he’ll be a nice contributor when he’s healthy.
On the other turnover, Falcons lineman Jonathan Babineaux got a nice pass rush on Mariota, stripped him of the ball and it was returned for a touchdown by linebacker Paul Worrilow. It’s hard to imagine the Falcons will have a top-5 defense or anything (Mariota did complete 7-of-8 passes for 94 yards), but creating big plays like that could make the defense much more effective.
Denver Broncos pass rusher Von Miller is going to get paid a ton next offseason.
Miller, who can become a free agent after this season, is a great fit for new coordinator Wade Phillips’ defense. He’ll be asked to destroy offenses by rushing the quarterback. And he can do that like few others can.
On the first dropback by an opponent this preseason, Miller got a sack and forced a fumble. He stunned Seahawks right tackle Justin Britt with a strike, then flew by him and was on Russell Wilson almost instantly. Miller stripped the ball, the Broncos recovered the fumble, and that set up an easy field goal. Miller got good pressure on Seattle’s second pass attempt too, but Wilson stepped up in the pocket to avoid him.
The Broncos have DeMarcus Ware on the other side, and first-round pick Shane Ray played well at outside linebacker on Friday night in the Broncos’ 22-20 win. It’s hard to devote too much attention to Miller when you face the Broncos’ defense. He’s going to have a big year.
Bengals 23, Giants 10: Tight end Tyler Eifert caught two passes for 30 yards when he was in with the starters. Camp reports on the third-year former first-round pick out of Notre Dame have been glowing, and he should be a huge part of the offense this season. On the Giants’ side, they seem to have avoided a huge injury, when X-rays on rookie safety Landon Collins came back negative. Fellow rookie safety Mykkele Thompson suffered an Achilles injury and was carted off, and that injury will hurt the depth at a very thin position.
Panthers 25, Bills 24: Carolina second-year receiver Kelvin Benjamin looks like he’ll pick up where he left off. On a short fade route in the end zone Benjamin was just too big and strong for Bills cornerback Ronald Darby, and caught a touchdown pass that was thrown high but was just fine for the 6-5 Benjamin. Benjamin should catch a few touchdowns that look just like that this season.
Raiders 18, Rams 3: Rams receiver Tavon Austin had a really nice play, taking a quick receiver screen, juking inside to fake a few Raiders defenders and then gaining 35 yards. He’s not likely to ever live up to his top-10 draft position, but Austin could still have a solid impact. Another top-10 pick, Raiders rookie receiver Amari Cooper, looks like he’s going to have a big role in Oakland’s offense. In the first drive of his NFL career he caught three passes for 22 yards and had a 3-yard run.
• The Jaguars had a good night on offense, but there’s a flip side to that. Does this say anything about the Steelers defense? Jacksonville was not a good offensive team last year, but had pretty good success against the Steelers. The Jaguars’ best drives came after the Steelers’ starters called it a night, but it still doesn’t inspire confidence for a defense that has a lot to prove.
• Titans running back Bishop Sankey didn’t do much to convince the Titans he will be much better in his second season. He had 15 yards on eight carries. It looked even worse for him when rookie David Cobb came in and rushed much better, with 53 yards on 11 carries.
On the bright side for the Titans, rookie second-round pick Dorial Green-Beckham, playing in his first game in more than a year, had a really nice 32-yard catch on a back-shoulder throw. He’s so big that it’ll be tough to stop that in the Titans offense.
• The Broncos appeared to have avoided a bad injury. Running back C.J. Anderson got his ankle rolled when he was tackled, and he limped off right away. But he waved the trainers off, indicating the injury was not serious. The Broncos running game did pretty well without Anderson (Ronnie Hillman had 66 yards on seven carries in the first half and Montee Ball had 27 yards on six carries) and with Peyton Manning sitting out, quarterback Brock Osweiler completed 15-of-20 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown in a half of work.
• Seahawks rookie receiver Tyler Lockett returned a kickoff return 103 yards for a touchdown (and Pete Carroll was flattened by a sideline judge running with the play when Carroll got too close to the sideline). Lockett has exceptional quickness and he’s going to help Seattle on special teams and in the offense.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
