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          Blake Bortles on benching: 'Don't know if it can get any worse than that'

          • Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff WriterAug 25, 2017, 11:00 AM
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              Michael DiRocco is an NFL reporter at ESPN. DiRocco covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. He previously covered the University of Florida for over a decade for ESPN.com and Florida Times-Union. DiRocco graduated from Jacksonville University and is a multiple APSE award winner. You can follow DiRocco on Twitter at @ESPNdirocco.
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          JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The words from Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone were wrenching: You’ve lost your starting job and are going to have to fight to win it back.

          It was a gut punch for quarterback Blake Bortles, who had been the Jaguars’ starter since Week 4 of the 2014 season, but he knew his future with the team -- and possibly in the NFL -- would ride on how he responded.

          “I don’t know if it can get any worse than that,” Bortles said after the Jaguars’ 24-23 loss to the Carolina Panthers at EverBank Field on Thursday night. “As a quarterback in the NFL that’s probably the last thing you want to hear. I think you can roll over and lay down or you can keep working, grinding and trying to win that spot back.

          “So, you have two options, and I think you pick one and you go.”

          Bortles obviously picked the latter, and he did enough good things against the Panthers to at least keep the competition with Chad Henne open for a while longer. He completed 12 of 16 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown but also threw an interception when a defensive back took the ball away from receiver Allen Hurns. Bortles had a two-point conversion pass picked off as well. (Henne went 8-of-14 for 73 yards.)

          Bortles played more freely against the Panthers than he has all preseason. He was animated after his touchdown throw to receiver Shane Wynn in the back of the end zone, the first time he had led the offense to a touchdown in the preseason. The play seemed to be an emotional lift for Bortles after a tough week.

          “I think you’re getting dealt a certain hand, and it’s your decision and you chose to do what you want with it,” Bortles said. “You can put your head down and continue to work and continue to fight and go out and play. Make each rep you get in practice as meaningful as possible.”

          With Marrone’s announcement that he needs more time to make a decision on the starter, which possibly includes one or both quarterbacks playing in the preseason finale, Bortles said he’s not going to focus on an eventual decision.

          “[Friday] is an off day, so whenever the next day is, I’ll show up, and when they tell me to go play, I’ll go play for as long as they let me,” he said.