Blake Bortles figures haters won't ever stop dissing him

ByMICHAEL DIROCCO
January 10, 2018, 4:29 PM

— -- JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Another week, another shot at Blake Bortles.

This time it was Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard and former NFL quarterback and Bleacher Report NFL analyst Chris Simms, both of whom ripped the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback. That didn't faze Bortles in the least when he was asked about it on Wednesday, because he's become almost immune to what seems to be a near-constant flow of insults.

"It'll probably never stop," Bortles said. "There's people that think LeBron James sucks, so if that happens I'm sure there will be a lot of people that always think I suck."

Bortles wasn't comparing himself to James, only saying that if there are people who don't think one of the greatest basketball players to ever play isn't any good then of course there are people who will think a player with 90 touchdown passes, 64 interceptions, and 21 victories in 61 starts isn't good either. Certainly a lot of NFL players do.

Byard, who picked off Bortles twice in the regular-season finale, told The Tennessean newspaper that he wants to make New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady "look like Blake Bortles" when the Titans play the Patriots on Saturday in an AFC Divisional playoff.

That follows Houston Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney calling Bortles "trash" after Bortles threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns in the Jaguars' 45-7 victory on Dec. 17 and Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas describing Bortles as a "subpar quarterback" after Bortles threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns in the Jaguars' 30-24 victory on Dec. 10.

Earlier this year, Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict said the Bengals' defensive game plan for the Nov. 5 meeting was to stop the Jaguars' run game because "obviously [Leonard] Fournette can beat you and I'm not sure Blake can beat us. We want to put it in his hands and have him beat us, if he can."

Last week Tennessee defensive lineman Jurrell Casey said Bortles wasn't any good in the clutch. "As long as Bortles is back there, if the ballgame is in his hands, he's going to choke," Casey told 104.5 The Zone in Nashville."

And let's not forget New Orleans defensive end Cameron Jordan's shot at Bortles during an offseason interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio when he talked about how much practicing against Drew Brees helped the defense: "It's not like we're going against Blake Bortles. It's not like Drew is giving picks away."?

Earlier this week during an appearance on The Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz, Simms said he has Bortles ranked 70th in his quarterback rankings - behind such players as Chad Henne (Bortles' backup), Nathan Peterman, and T.J. Yates. That promoted former Jaguars offensive lineman Tony Boselli, who is part of the team's radio broadcast team, to call into the show and defend Bortles.

"I appreciate Chris Simms almost died bleeding to death on the football field, which is the only cool factor that he has in his entire life, outside of his dad's great, too," Boselli said, referencing Simms needing emergency surgery to remove his spleen after rupturing it in a loss to Carolina in 2006 when he was playing for Tampa Bay. "... Blake Bortles is the 70th best quarterback is just the most ignorant, asinine statement I've ever heard."

Bortles had the best season of his career in 2017. He completed 60 percent of passes for the first time, cut his interception total to 13, and finished with a better passer rating than Cam Newton and Joe Flacco and threw more touchdown passes than Matt Ryan and Eli Manning.