The Jacksonville Jaguars denied a report that the team demanded potential head coaches commit to Blake Bortles at quarterback when interviewing candidates this offseason. Tad Dickman, the team’s PR man, called the report from Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union “inaccurate,” on Twitter.
This is inaccurate. https://t.co/LghX62DbfN
— Tad Dickman (@TDickman89) August 24, 2017
Who knows whether the Jaguars are telling the truth, however, that report would certainly be embarrassing if true. Bortles was terrible last season and got benched for Chad Henne prior to Thursday’s preseason game. It’s one thing to try and give Bortles, age 25 and a former No. 3 overall pick, a chance this season. However, telling potential coaches they had to commit to him could have turned off some of the better candidates.
If Doug Marrone agreed to that mandate, he’s retreated from it rather quickly. It took only two preseason games to bench Bortles in favor of Henne. That fact seems to favor Dickman’s side of the story. However, it’s impossible to know for sure.