The Jaguars went to the AFC title game last year, and nearly made it to the Super Bowl. That success has pushed them to play this year in win-now mode, which has led to things like the team being frustrated with Leonard Fournette’s injury recovery, trading for Carlos Hyde from the Browns, and being disappointed in a 3-3 start, even though they still entered today tied with the Texans for the AFC South lead.
But perhaps the move that most reveals their near-term focus came today, as the Jaguars benched quarterback Blake Bortles in favor of Cody Kessler early in the second half against those Texans.
The move did come after Bortles committed two costly fumbles. The first was on Jacksonville’s first possession of the game:
.@Merci380 and @clownejd doing work early!#HOUvsJAX pic.twitter.com/yr82EpcPED
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 21, 2018
The second was even worse as it came near Jacksonville’s goal line, and it was a similar play, with Bortles attempting to step up and failing to secure the ball:
#Texans defense on 🔥🔥🔥.#HOUvsJAX pic.twitter.com/A1uKpKdArm
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 21, 2018
Houston is up 20-0, so it’s hard to imagine Kessler being worse today. But it’s also hard to imagine this being great for the confidence of Bortles; maybe this is a sign that the Jaguars are done caring about that.
