JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A couple of things to keep an eye on as the Jaguars face the Tampa Buccaneers on Thursday night in their second preseason game of the year:
Blake Bortles: Until No. 5 starts to play at a consistent level he’s going to be the player to watch for every Jaguars game. He only threw five passes in the first preseason game against New England. Most of those throws were safe and he didn’t look to attack down the field. Against Tampa Bay, Bortles will likely play into the second quarter. If he can take care of the football and show accuracy on his throws the Jaguars will feel a lot better about their quarterback situation.
Poz back at MLB: In what was a surprise move Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone announced this week that Paul Posluszny would be returning to middle linebacker against Tampa Bay. This offseason the team handed Myles Jack the starting job at MLB without any sort of competition with Posluszny. Jack will be the strong side linebacker in base defenses and will play middle backer in nickel situations. Marrone said they’re just exploring all of their options. Is that a smoke screen for them not being happy with what they saw out of Jack against New England? We’ll know a lot more when the team announces who is starting at middle linebacker against Carolina next week in the third and most important preseason game.
Depth at Cornerback: Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Colvin won’t play against the Bucs. A.J. Bouye didn’t practice Tuesday so his action will likely be limited if he plays at all. That leaves the Jaguars down their top three corners and presents a huge opportunity for the guys behind them on the depth chart. Nobody in the Jaguars secondary has made more plays this training camp than Tyler Patmon. He will likely get the start along with Brian Dixon and Doran Grant. Rookie Jalen Myrick will also have a chance to move up the depth chart.
“We still have quite a bit, probably more positions open than at least what I’m used to at this time of year,” said Marrone earlier this week. “There is still a lot on the line for a lot of these players, so I think to kind of get away from this and see how we go back and perform against each other. I think we can put people in situations where we want to see exactly how they perform.”