Blake Bortles' preseason debut last week was impressive enough to get Jacksonville Jaguars coach Gus Bradley second-guessing his plan to keep the rookie quarterback on the bench in 2014. If Bortles can have another impressive outing against the Chicago Bears on Thursday night, Bradley may be scrapping it all together.
How to watch Jaguars vs. Bears 2014 online, TV schedule, radio and more
Can Blake Bortles strengthen his argument for early playing time against a defense desperate for improvement?
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The top quarterback selected in the 2014 draft looked the part against Tampa Bay, going 7-of-11 for 117 yards after relieving incumbent starter Chad Henne in the second quarter. Bradley, who had initially said he would let Henne take all of the first-team reps until the fourth preseason game, opened the door for a potential Bortles challenge.
“We’ll keep evaluating it,” Bradley told Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. “We’ll see how it progresses -- we’ll see how the fourth game goes. It could happen earlier, depending on how things go.”
On the other sideline, the Bears will be hoping to keep their offensive momentum going after dropping the Eagles in a shootout last week. Jay Cutler and Jimmy Clausen combined to go 16-of-23 for 235 yards and three touchdowns, a good early sign in Marc Trestman's second year at the helm.
Bears fans will be more concerned with the defense, which ranked 30th in the league a season ago. A big part in turning that around will be cornerback Kyle Fuller, the team's first-round pick who tallied three tackles in his preseason debut. Keep an eye on his performance Thursday night.
Here are the details for tuning in:
Where: Soldier Field, Chicago
When: 8 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Radio: WBBM 780 (Chicago)
Online streaming: WatchESPN.com
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