Blake Bortles losing his grip on Jaguars starting QB job

Blake Bortles' future as Jacksonville Jaguars’ starting quarterback is in jeopardy after an underwhelming performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in preseason.

Coach Doug Marrone opened up the team's quarterback job after Bortles' latest inconsistent performance Thursday night, giving Chad Henne a chance to start.

"I'm looking for someone who is going to lead this offence," Marrone said. "I'm not happy with the performance. Everyone saw it out there. Whatever you want to call it, I'm still trying to evaluate who the best person is at that position."

Bortles completed 8 of 13 passes for 65 yards in a 12-8 preseason loss to Tampa Bay and headed to the sideline after four possessions that ended with punts. He missed Allen Robinson on two plays, including a woefully underthrown ball down the seam.

"Just didn't make a whole lot of plays," Bortles said. "Missed a couple of throws down the field, and we were very stagnant as an offense."

Henne got some work with the first-team offence, fuelling speculation that Bortles had lost his grasp on the job. Even though the move had been planned beforehand, it gave the appearance that Marrone and football czar Tom Coughlin had wavered in their commitment to Bortles. Marrone confirmed it after the game.

"We're going to figure this thing out," Marrone said. "It's just simple. I'm not going to try to make this thing complicated. I'm looking for the best person to lead our offense."

Marrone and Coughlin had publicly supported Bortles all year, even picking up the fifth-year option in his rookie contract. But Marrone pulled the third overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft last week following two interceptions. Marrone said Bortles' "arm looked tired." Bortles denied having any issues.

Bortles doesn't have a touchdown or a turnover in two preseason games.

"It's hard to not hear people booing," Bortles said. "But if they're cheering or booing, it's kind of irrelevant, at least for me it is. I think you've got to treat adversity and prosperity the same way. They're not booing for no reason. They're booing because you didn't do your job."

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The regular season of home and away matches run from September to December 2017, culminating in PlayOffs from January 6, 2018 and the Super Bowl on February 4, 2018 at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota to determine the world champion.