After five seasons working mostly as a starting quarterback in Jacksonville, Blake Bortles is now an understudy in Los Angeles. The maligned signal-caller is reveling in his new experience.
Bortles told the Los Angeles Times recently that Sean McVay and the Rams' coaching staff is unlike any he encountered with the Jaguars.
"Seeing how he coaches, how all the other coaches coach and how the guys are receptive and take it, I've never seen anything like it," Bortles said.
After being cut by the Jags, who signed Nick Foles this offseason, Bortles landed in L.A. on a one-year, $1 million deal to tutor at the hip of McVay and be insurance behind Jared Goff. Given his wonky delivery and skittish play the last several years, there is no better place for Bortles to land than under McVay's tutelage.
Still just 27 years old, Bortles knows he's not the future under center in Los Angeles, but is hoping to rehab his reputation and be insurance should something happen to Goff.
"It's a weird thing to kind of balance in your head," he said. "I have a role. I'm here to back Jared and do whatever I can to help him out. And if I get an opportunity, I've got to make sure we don't miss a beat offensively and we continue to roll.
"And at the same time, I also expect to be a starter in this league again, and I know it's not going to be here in L.A. So I'm trying to just better myself. ... And if I get an opportunity to play, great. If not, then I spent a year learning from McVay, and being around a really good organization."
Given "Finding the Next Sean McVay" was the headline of the coaching cycle this year, cozying up to the savant head coach is a good idea for a QB like Bortles. His public reputation can't get much lower, so any shine McVay provides is a bonus.
If Bortles is to overcome his past struggles and get a shot at another starting job, he'll have to soak up every lesson from McVay and show off during every opportunity he receives.
