Thursday night treated us to a trio of exhibition football games. What stood out most of all was the terrible quarterback play. It was bad — so bad that you can be forgiven for not talking about a performance from Jay Cutler that did not feature any glaring screwups.
Blake Bortles wasn’t the only terrible quarterback playing on Thursday night
Thursday’s preseason action featured lots of terrible QB play, and then there was Blake Bortles, who took it all to a new level.
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Blake Bortles, Jaguars: He was 8-of-13, thanks to some easy completions on dump offs. It was only by sheer luck that he didn’t get intercepted, and he underthrew an unmolested Allen Robinson more than once.
It was so bad for Bortles that head coach Doug Marrone opened up a quarterback competition between Bortles and Chad Henne. Chad f**king Henne. It’s pretty clear that the Jags need to explore other options for their starting quarterback.
Tyrod Taylor, Bills: Coach Sean McDermott didn’t quite take away Taylor’s starting job, but he clearly wasn’t pleased with his quarterback’s 8-of-18, two-interception performance. The fact that it was even a question is bad news for the Bills.
Ryan Mallett, Ravens: He was awful too, and he’s Baltimore’s starter while Joe Flacco is dealing with a back injury that was supposed to be healed up a long time ago. Mallett missed targets and ended his night with a pair of interceptions. John Harbaugh offered some qualified praise after the game: “I think he’s doing OK given the circumstances.”
Jamies Winston, Buccaneers: He had a good night, giving fans a taste of just what this offense is capable of after a pair of scoring drives to open the game. But he also had a very Jamies-like moment with this throw:
Jay Cutler, Dolphins: Zero f**ks were asked, and none was given. Cutler did everything he needed to do in his preseason debut, which was mostly just prove that he wasn’t overly rusty after being kinda retired. He finished 3-of-6 with 24 yards. The most encouraging sign for the Dolphins and fantasy footballers was that four of his six throws were targeted to DeVante Parker, or as Cutler dubbed him “a faster Alshon [Jeffery].”
Carson Wentz, Eagles: Even Wentz had a rough night on Thursday. He was off the mark with his throws on Philly’s first two drives, before settling into things on the third one. That one looked promising, until LeGarrette Blount fumbled to end the effort. By the way, the Eagles O-line doesn’t look so hot.
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