The Jaguars were doing okay against the Bills Sunday, but then the guy who had scored two TDs for them was ejected for fighting, they pissed away a first-and-goal situation, and Buffalo won, 24-21. This extended the team’s losing streak to seven. The usually loquacious Jalen Ramsey couldn’t even say anything rude about Josh Allen. The Jaguars responded to the loss today by firing offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, but they will also be benching beautiful big baller Blake Bortles.
Head coach Doug Marrone said today that the Jaguars would start Cody Kessler against the Colts this weekend. Kessler played a lot of Jacksonville’s 20-7 loss to the Texans in Week 7. He completed 21 of 30 passes for a touchdown and interception, and averaged a sizzling 5.2 yards per attempt. (For context, the lowest YPA average by quarterbacks who qualify is Cardinals QB Josh Rosen with 6.16.) Kessler, formerly with the Browns, is 0-8 as a starter in his career, and somehow none of those games even came in Cleveland’s winless season. Starting Kessler after firing Hackett means that the Jaguars admitted that their offensive strategy was bad, and was made worse by the guy executing it.
As long as Kessler knows how to hand it off to one of the 72 power backs the Jags employ, he should be fine, but there’s a good chance this QB change isn’t permanent anyway. The Bortlesing cannot be stopped, only put off. Also, as a reminder, the Jaguars gave Bortles an extension not even a year ago:
This team was 3-1 at one point this season! They beat the Patriots! Anyway, here are some photos of Blake Bortles’s tongue when he throws a pass.