Dissecting Bortles and Jaguars, celebrating Mayfield and Jackson
Jags erred in extending Bortles and enabling Ramsey
“They thought they had a Super Bowl in waiting down there. But Blake Bortles just hasn’t been that good. I don’t know what Tom Coughlin was looking at. I don’t know why they re-upped with Bortles. At least bring somebody in there to push him or be an alternative; make a trade for Teddy Bridgewater.”
Boomer Esiason, NBCS Monday QB
“Now they’re going to turn to Cody Kessler, who is 0-8 as a starter. He may have the weakest arm in all of football.”
Rich Gannon, Monday QB
“Blake Bortles has six touchdown passes in his last seven games. They made a huge mistake at the quarterback position. . . . The Jaguars will have more problems entering the offseason than any team in football, and that includes the Oakland Raiders.”
Peter King, NBCS Pro Football Talk
“It started to go off the rails in the off-season when Jalen Ramsey had those two print interviews, GQ and ESPN the Magazine, and there wasn’t much of an external reaction by Doug Marrone. The discipline mind-set that Marrone brought last year is gone. Where’s Tom Coughlin in all this? The people in charge are asleep at the switch.”
Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk
“The way we behave on the field, it’s riculous, some of the penalties. So a lot of things are going to get addressed, and are being addressed. . . . There will be some good out of it and some tough calls.”
Tom Coughlin, Jaguars president
Coaching change key to Browns resurgence
“We have people we believe in who are calling the plays now.”
Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns QB, after their first road win in 3 years
“Mayfield threw four touchdowns Sunday, and he didn’t go batcrap after a single one of them. He’ll high-five or hug his mates, but he doesn’t go whirlygigging around the field. It’s because Mayfield expected what just happened. He wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t celebratory.”
Peter King, Football Morning in America
Lamar Jackson fits Ravens better than Flacco
“The Ravens’ offensive line is big; it’s overpowering. And now you have Gus Edwards who’s a good between-the-tackles runner and Lamar Jackson who will keep you honest on the edge with creative things they can do with him in the run game. Their pass game isn’t pretty but it’s effective. Jackson at quarterback suits the Ravens’ style more than Joe Flacco. Run the ball, keep the defense fresh, that’s how the Baltimore Ravens were built.”
Chris Simms, Pro Football Talk
Giants stay in checkdown mode
“Knowing they were struggling in the secondary, I would have loved to attack them. But that wasn’t in the game plan.”
Odell Beckham Jr., on losing 25-22 in Philadelphia, with Eli Manning throwing 37 times and completing only one for more than 30 yards.
