Blake Bortles Named Jaguars Starting QB over Chad Henne

The Jacksonville Jaguars are sticking with Blake Bortles—for now.

Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone announced Saturday that Bortles will start over Chad Henne for Jacksonville's Week 1 showdown with the Houston Texans. Mark Long of the Associated Press first reported the decision.

"I think that the first thing that I look at is to make sure ... who's going to give us the best chance to win in the situation that we're in," Marrone said, via Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com. "I look at everything, not just the quarterback position, of how we want to play and what we want to do. I think Blake had the ability to extend plays for us, which I think is going to be helpful in what we have to get done."

Bortles has been on the hot seat since the end of the 2016 campaign, in which Jacksonville went 3-13. During that stretch, the 2014 No. 3 overall pick completed 58.9 percent of his passes for 3,905 yards and 23 touchdowns with 16 interceptions.

By the time that dreadful season concluded, Bortles had cemented himself as one of two players to toss at least 50 interceptions from 2014 to 2016. The other was Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who threw 93 touchdowns compared to Bortles' 69 during that span.

Shaky preseason play made things worse. On Aug. 17 versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Henne received snaps with the first-team offense.

"I'm looking for someone that's going to lead this offense," Marrone said after the 12-8 loss, per ESPN.com's Michael DiRocco. "I'm not happy with the performance today. I'm not going to sit here and B.S. anyone. Everyone saw it out there. Whatever you want to call it, I'm still trying to evaluate who the best person is at that position."

The solution may be a player who is not on the roster. Jaguars owner Shahid Khan was asked Thursday if he would be OK with signing Colin Kaepernick, and he replied he would "absolutely" approve of adding the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, per Mike Dempsey of 1010XL.

If that statement is any indication, Bortles will be on a short leash.

And if he is eventually benched, he may not take the field in a Jacksonville uniform again since his 2018 salary ($19 million) is only guaranteed for injury and can be cleared off the team's books at no cost in the event he stays healthy.

Bortles' every move will be dissected as he attempts to lead the Jaguars back into the postseason conversation.

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com. Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.com.