Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer 7y

Jaguars QB Blake Bortles says his arm is fine despite weekend of rest

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles says he doesn’t have an issue with his throwing arm even though coach Doug Marrone decided to rest him over the weekend because Bortles’ arm “looked tired.”

“My arm is fine,” Bortles said Tuesday after the Jaguars' second joint practice with Tampa Bay. “It feels good. I’ll be all right.”

Bortles took fewer than 20 snaps in team and seven-on-seven work on Sunday and did not participate in those drills the last half of practice. Bortles threw two interceptions before that, but Marrone said that had nothing to do with the decision to rest Bortles.

Marrone said Bortles was on a “pitch count” but on Monday said that he misspoke and that Bortles looked like he had a tired arm, which was why he decided to cut Bortles’ reps. Bortles said Tuesday that the number of reps he’s taken in camp this year is significantly higher than he'd taken in his first three camps.

“I’ve taken more reps in this camp than probably the last three years all combined,” he said. “That was something in talking with Coach Marrone and Coach [Nathaniel] Hackett that I knew they had done that in the past. They had their reasons and philosophies on why they do it. I totally agree with it.”

Bortles has had more good days than bad in camp, but his biggest issue has been inconsistency with decisions and throws. Tuesday was a good example: He made one of his best throws of camp on a deep pass down the sideline to Allen Robinson in tight coverage, but he also missed a wide-open Keelan Cole on a post pattern for what would have been a touchdown in another drill.

“I think when anyone asks me about someone’s ability, and a lot of times that comes with the quarterback, they are always like, ‘Hey, where are you? How did his week go? Are you happy with him?’” Marrone said. “I think for me personally, I’m always trying to get more, so for me I’m one of those guys that it’s hard for me to say. There are some throws that I’ll think, ‘Hey, that’s a good throw,’ and then I’ll be like, ‘That’s a horse s--- throw.’ At the end of the day, I’m just trying to get more and get better.

“So we rested him the other day. I thought he came back and really had no issues for these two days [against the Bucs].”

Bortles said the additional reps with the first-team offense have helped, but the group still has a long way to go.

“We’re still making mistakes, and we’ve had thousands of reps,” Bortles said. “Imagine if we only had 500, it would be probably way worse. I think the only way to eliminate those mistakes is continue to do it and continue to do it and continue to correct it in meetings until it’s beaten in your head that you know how to do it.”

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