National Football League

Jags: Blake Bortles is 'everything we hoped for'

Published Mar. 26, 2015 2:27 a.m. ET

foxsports

By Rachel Wold

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles was the third overall selection and first quarterback picked in the 2014 draft. After what was an up-and-down season, it appears his team is happy with his development.

Head coach Gus Bradley had some positive comments to share about their quarterback, who remained durable after taking a massive 55 sacks in 2014. Here's what he said via the team’s official website.

He’s everything we hoped for as far as mentality and competitiveness. I thought he was really internally driven and that is so true. He has no fear. I felt like that going through the process where we were picking the quarterback, and he plays with no fear. Those aspects were really exciting for us. I think his toughness. I knew he was tough, but just how tough … And how fast he would take over the team. The team really gravitates toward him offensively, defensively and special teams-wise, and I didn’t know it would happen that fast.

Tough is an understatement for a quarterback who landed on the ground an average of 4.3 times per game during his rookie season. However, Bortles is now flush with a tremendous amount of weapons, including recently signed Pro Bowl tight end Julius Thomas as well as a trio of young receivers.

While the Jaguars will assuredly remain a work in progress next season, it is great to see the support the team has shown its young quarterback.

The next task it improving on another awful three-win 2014 campaign.

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