Tom Coughlin commits to Blake Bortles as Jaguars QB

Blake Bortles had a season to forget in 2016, but the new man in charge of the Jacksonville Jaguars insists the quarterback’s job is safe heading into 2017.

At his press conference on Thursday, new Jaguars executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin committed to Bortles as the team’s starting quarterback.

Tom Coughlin: "Blake Bortles is our quarterback."

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 12, 2017

For what it’s worth, the Jaguars hired Coughlin to make these decisions. Team owner Shahid Khan said Thursday that Coughlin “will oversee all facets of the football organization” and have complete control of the 53-man roster. If Coughlin says Bortles is sticking around, Bortles is sticking around.

And even if the Bortles decision was up to the head coach, Doug Marrone threw his support behind Bortles when he took over as interim head coach after Gus Bradley was fired. Marrone is now the team’s full-time head coach.

The rumblings we heard about how Bortles was affecting Jacksonville’s coaching search were not flattering, but the Jaguars are obviously committed to trying to build around him. Bortles had a very good season in 2015 and played through some injuries in 2016, so perhaps that had a lot to do with his poor performance.