There is no bigger disappointment in the NFL than Blake Bortles.
The big-armed quarterback was supposed to lead the Jacksonville Jaguars' long-awaited turnaround. Instead, he's led them down a spiraling drain into another flushed season.
In Sunday's 20-10 loss to the Denver Broncos, Bortles once again held the team hostage, committing three turnovers.
"It's the biggest nightmare possible," Bortles said, via ESPN.com. "But what are you going to do about it? You can't sit there in a corner and pout. You can't blame people. You can't feel sorry for yourself because I think all that's going to do is affect the way I play."
With faltering mechanics, Bortles can't consistently throw deep with any semblance of accuracy. The restriction allows defenders to sit on short throws, blow up running plays and jump passes.
The Jaguars' longest play Sunday was a 22-yard Bortles scramble.
"You can't press," Bortles said. "I think I was doing some of that early in the season and that didn't go well. You've got to stay true to what we do and what we believe in and go through the process. For me, it's obviously still trying to take care of the ball. All you can do is put your head down and continue to play as hard as you can and prepare each week."
Bortles tried to spin positive on his nightmare season, noting that the 2-10 Jags (officially eliminated from the playoffs) have four more games to turn things around heading into 2017.
"It's been tough, but something that's cool about it is you get 16 opportunities, so we've got four more chances," Bortles said. "Obviously, the first 12 didn't go the way we wanted to by any means, personally or as an offense or as a team. I think everybody knows that and understands it. You've got four more chances and then a bunch of time off, so let's go try and play as well as we possibly can for four games and see what happens."
On the other hand, that is four more games fans are forced to watch a hamstrung quarterback throw like he's mimicking an Egyptian hieroglyphic. It's been a nightmare season, but the team will likely give the 24-year-old quarterback another year to fix his mechanics. Gus Bradley likely isn't so lucky to stick around for that reclamation project.
