JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone has named Blake Bortles the starting QB for the regular season opener against Houston on Sept. 10, the team announced Saturday morning on Twitter.
Marrone broke the news to Bortles, Chad Henne and a couple of veteran players early Saturday.
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"I think that the first thing I look at is to make sure who is going to give us the best chance to win in the situation that we’re in," Marrone said while addressing the media Saturday. "I think Blake has the ability to extend plays for us, which I think is going to be helpful in what we have to get done."
The outcome ends a quarterback competition that lasted a little more than a week.
"I was happy with the way both QBs handled the competition," Marrone said. "They were both trying to help each other get better."
Marrone opened the job after Bortles turned in a flat performance against Tampa Bay in the preseason.
Bortles presumably did enough in Thursday's exhibition loss to Carolina to keep the starting job he's had the last three years.
"Its cool but all I've been promised is the first rep with the first team at practice today," Bortles said. "I'm going to try and play my best and make sure that we don't have to go through that ever again"
The third overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft will make his 46th consecutive start when the Jaguars play Houston. Bortles has started every Jaguars regular-season game since Week 4 of his 2014 rookie season.
Henne has served as Bortles’ backup since Bortles became the starter. Henne started 22 games for the Jaguars between 2012 and 2014.