The Chicago Bears defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-19 at Soldier Field on Thursday night, improving to 2-0 while Jacksonville dropped to 1-1. The story was third-overall pick Blake Bortles, who came into the game as Jacksonville's backup quarterback and continued to shine.
2014 NFL preseason scores and results: Bears beat Jaguars 20-19, Blake Bortles shines in loss
Chicago remained undefeated but Jacksonville’s young quarterback stole the show.
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Bortles entered during the second quarter in place of Chad Henne and completed 11-of-17 passes for 160 yards. Henne was nearly as impressive, throwing for 130 yards and a touchdown on 12-of-17 passing. The thought in Jacksonville is that Gus Bradley and company would like to enter the season with Henne as their starting quarterback, but Blake Bortles performances in the preseason might give them some pause.
In back to back preseason games, Bortles has out performed Henne on both the stat sheet and with the eyeball test. Bortles didn’t look like the game was too big for him or too fast, consistently pushing the ball down the field and using his legs to create other plays. Henne has been up and down in the preseason so far, but if Bortles continues to play like he did on Friday night he might make them reconsider their plans.
Jay Cutler performed well for Chicago, completing 7-of-9 passes for 75 yards and a score. However, the Bears were in a 13-0 hole for much of the first half following a three-and-out on their first possession followed by a fumble on the next kickoff. Matt Forte was not able to get going, rushing four times for -2 yards. Brandon Marshall only caught one pass for four yards but it went for six points.
The game had preseason sloppiness with 21 penalties being called between both teams, including 14 against the Jaguars.
Injuries
Chicago suffered a setback on the opening kickoff when 2014 first-round pick Kyle Fuller injured his ankle. Fuller appeared to roll the ankle and walked off the field with trainers under his own power. He did not return to the game.
Fuller is working himself into the starting rotation with veterans Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings.
For Jacksonville, the offensive line was tested with injuries to right tackle Austin Pasztor and reserve Luke Bowanko. Pasztor left toward the end of the first quarter with a hand injury and did not return. Bowanko exited with an apparent leg injury and also remained out for the night.
Pasztor is lining up as the starter on the right edge, opposite last year’s second-overall pick, left tackle Luke Joeckel. Bowanko is in competition for the starting center job with third-year pro Mike Brewster.
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