Q&A with Blake Bortles: On Sweatpants, London Trips, and QBs Testing Tablet Durability
By Jason Lisk
We talked with Blake Bortles, the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback, this week. Bortles is promoting a Microsoft campaign called the Imagine Bowl, where three finalists a trip to San Francisco for Super Bowl 50 and one grand prize winner will receive $50,000.
Fans can submit an essay of 3,000 words or less and/or a 1-2 minute video by visiting www.ImagineBowl.com by December 1st, and providing their creative ideas on how technology can improve how we play, watch and experience the game. (Note: I’m suggesting our readers go with less than 3,000 words; conciseness is your friend).
Q: We’ve got a guy on our website, Tim Ryan, that writes about NFL Fashion at the Podium each week, and he doesn’t seem to like your choice of always wearing team apparel. You know, I’m sitting here talking to you in sweats right now, so I get it. But is there any chance you would consider going with a Philip Rivers bolo tie, a Tom Brady hat, or some of Cam Newton’s shoes after one of your games, or are you sticking with the sweats look?
BB: Like yourself, I’m a big sweats fan. I mean, I wear a suit 8 times a year on our 8 away games, well actually 9, since we go to London. I can try and maybe throw in like a sweet bracelet or something for him, I don’t know.
Q: I don’t think anything would satisfy him, to be honest with you. He’s from New York. [shared laughter and bonding over fashion]
You mentioned London, you’ve gone over there twice. Obviously, the Jaguars have been committed to going over there for one of their games. I wanted to ask you how realistic is it to ask a team to do that multiple times a year, and what are the hurdles to getting a franchise there?
BB: You know, I think it would be tough. Last year, we played Cincinnati on Sunday, grabbed food, and flew right to London, and were there for the whole week. This past week, we stayed in Jacksonville, left on Thursday at around 6 pm, and got to London on Friday morning. I actually like that schedule better, I think you get a nice sleep on the plane, get there Friday, and you go right to meetings and practice.
I don’t know a whole lot of the logistics that go into it, I know it would probably be tough to make an 8.5 hour flight eight times a year for a team if they were to play over there or go over multiple times, I’m sure it’s a challenge. But I think it’s a cool venue and a cool opportunity. I enjoy going over there once a year, and if we have to go over there multiple times a year, I’d be happy. I’m excited that I get to play football every Sunday anyways.
Q: You have had the bye week after, and they’ve scheduled it that way. What would the turnaround time be for the trip back from London? Could you turn around and play or is the bye week necessary?
BB: You know, I think you could probably do it. The bye week works out best. Actually when we went over, the clocks turn back in London a week before they do over here in America, so we actually got an extra hour of sleep over there. But if you came back, flew out Sunday after the game, got back Monday and had Monday and Tuesday to try to recover and break down that previous game, you could probably get back to practice on Wednesday. Probably not ideal, probably rather have a bye week, but I think you could do it.
Q: This year, you guys have taken a step forward offensively, we haven’t necessarily seen it reflected in the record yet, but I saw a stat that Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns–and I have to keep the two Allens separated–both have over 600 yards and 6 touchdowns in the first 8 games catching passes from you–what is it about those guys that has made that possible?
BB: They are two unbelievable football players, and they are kind of different within themselves. Allen Robinson is the physical freak, he’s the guy that shows up at the Combine and runs and jumps and you’re kind of wowed about it. Allen Hurns is the guy that shows up and he doesn’t wow you with that stuff, but he’s got all the intangibles that you can’t necessarily measure on paper, and he is an unbelievably smart football player. So he is Mr. Reliable and he is going to be in the right spot at the right time and make a play for you. So it’s been cool to be with those guys, to come in with those guys as rookies, and watch them grow, and grow together, over the past year and a half.
Q: Earlier, at the start of the season, for a brief period of time, you might have gotten some criticism for some comments that you said about the fans criticizing the play-calling. I want to go a little more in-depth, set aside the sound bites, what are some of the little things you’ve worked on to improve the most?
BB: Obviously, this offseason, I went out and did some stuff in California to try and clean up my mechanics. We also have a new offensive coordinator so we’ve really been playing in this offense for less than six months. So it’s a quick turnaround. You go through a week, Mondays, you are here from 8 to 4, Tuesdays from 7:30 to 4, and Wednesdays/Thursdays/Friday, we’re here from 6 in the morning to 6 or 7 at night.
I don’t think people understand the amount of time that goes into everything, especially what the coaches and offensive coordinator have to do for game planning week in and week out. You go through a whole week of preparation, and then you have to erase it and start over again. I think that’s some of the stuff that kind of gets lost in there. It is playing football, and an unbelievable opportunity to play in the NFL and get a chance to go play every Sunday.
Q: There’s a lot of little moments that add up, maybe it’s practicing footwork, maybe it is understanding protection schemes. What are some moments this year, where you are like, that clicked?
BB: It’s definitely different things, and it’s different things that happen each week. You try and learn from your mistakes. I’ve done some stuff this year, both good and bad. It’s kind of like, I see that, I know the right thing or right answer to that problem, so if I see that again, I know I’ll have the answer. So learning from your mistakes, and trying to retain that and not duplicate your mistakes is a big part of it.
Q: Is there one that comes to mind, maybe you had seen something because of your experience, maybe you didn’t throw a pass that results in an interception because you saw something subtle.
BB: Right, it happens every week. The more football you play, the more football you see, the veteran quarterbacks you see it all the time. The better you are usually with the ball right, the less you turn it over, which is something I’ve obviously struggled with the past couple years, so still trying to eliminate that, but it has gotten better. I’ve thought about throwing things that I didn’t throw, and balls that I did throw last year and they were intercepted, so I’ve pulled some of those back. Gotta continue to do that, continue to take care of the ball.
Q: Process versus goals. Are there goals that you have set for the second half of the season? Obviously, there are things outside your control–I just saw the Luck injury news come across as we were getting ready for this–but you certainly have an opportunity, what are your goals?
BB: Definitely super unfortunate for Andrew, and I wish him a speedy recovery. We had a chance to play Hasselbeck once this year, he’s definitely been a good quarterback who has been around for a super long time.
But we’re not going to allow the previous eight game, and that record to dictate who we are for this final eight games? We are going to attack these eight games and go through our process each week and attack each one like it’s the Super Bowl. And what happens at the end of these eight games is what happens, but we understand and realize the big picture of what is going on in our division and our opportunity here.
Q: Disappointing week last week, your team went out and in many ways, on a play-by-play basis, you gained yards on the Jets, but were -4 in turnovers. How frustrating is that to experience success against what has been a very good defense, but have key turnovers?
BB: Yeah, it’s a really good defense. They are super talented. For us to go in and throw for 380 and rush for another 80 or so, it shows, that’s something we felt, week-in and week-out, we can move the ball against anybody. We have. Obviously, it’s being able to score points and eliminate turnovers. We’re working on that, I’m working on that as a quarterback to take care of the ball, and situationally, we’ve got to be better in the red zone and with our scoring efficiency, so those are two points of emphasis.
Q: Now, we are here talking and you are being sponsored by the Microsoft Surface Tablet, so it’s relevant to what you do on a weekly basis on the sidelines. Now, how much are you doing on those tablets, beyond just looking at the photos?
BB: Right, it’s definitely a sweet tool to have. The old school thing was the notebook. You get the still picture right there in black and white, it’s in a laminated thing, you can sit there and look at it. Now, you get the tablet, you can zoom in, you can zoom out, you can draw on it. It’s super innovative, it allows you to do some unique things, it allows you to prepare for the next series and things coming up. It’s something that’s cool, and that I really enjoy because I use it in my every day life, planning my days and going throughout that way.
Q: We saw Aaron Rodgers slam his down in disgust at something that happened at the end of the game Sunday. Have you damaged the merchandise in the heat of the moment at all?
BB: You know, they are pretty durable so they are hard to damage. I haven’t necessarily thrown mine down as aggressively as Aaron did. I’ve aggressively set it down, but I wouldn’t say I’ve tossed one.
Q: So you endorse the durability?
BB: Yeah, yeah, big fan of the durability. And if you get mad enough and want to give it a toss, I think it could handle it.
Q: Last question, handling the quarterback the position outside of the game. Nowadays, every thing is out in the public. You can put pictures out on Instagram, others can take pictures. How conscious do you have to be of the image you put out for your teammates and for the public as part of representing the team?
BB: Right, it’s definitely a different time. It’s not back in the day when there was no social media and you could kinda do whatever you wanted, and if people were there they saw it and if not nobody found out about it. People really get the opportunity to see everything that goes on in your life, or at least as much as you let them. I think as a professional athlete it’s something you have to be conscious of, you have to understand kind of the perspective people are going to have of you by what you put out there. Especially as a quarterback in the NFL, you are not only representing yourself and your family, but an organization and a city.
That’s something I take very seriously, always want to portray a positive image. It is difficult at times, there’s always different things that go on, pictures or whatever that you didn’t want to get out, so you have to be aware of that and make sure you are on your toes at all times.
[photos via USA Today Sports Images]