The Denver Broncos signed quarterback Blake Bortles of Altamonte Springs, Florida on Tuesday according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN. Denver was in immediate need to improve their quarterback position after Drew Lock of Columbia, Missouri strained his rotator cuff in the Broncos’ 26-21 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. As a result, Lock is to miss three to five weeks.
Bortles was the backup quarterback to Jared Goff for the Los Angeles Rams in 2019. He only completed one pass for three yards in a 34-7 Rams win over the Arizona Cardinals on December 1, and the Rams did not renew his contract for 2020.
Prior to 2019, Bortles spent five seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. From 2014 to 2018, he completed 1561 passes in 2632 attempts for 17646 yards, 103 touchdowns and 75 interceptions. Bortles also had 281 rushes for 1775 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.
Where Bortles struggled however during his time in Jacksonville was his accuracy and speed in his overall decision making. He led the NFL with 18 interceptions in 2015, and twice led the NFL in number of times he was sacked. During Bortles’ rookie season of 2014, he was sacked 55 times for a league-high 345 yards. Then in 2015, Bortles was sacked 51 times.
The loss of Lock was one of two significant injuries the Broncos suffered on Sunday. They also lost wide receiver Courtland Sutton with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Heading into the season Sutton was expected to be Denver’s number one wideout after a solid 2019 season, but now he will miss the rest of 2020.
It will now be interesting to see who the Broncos start at quarterback on Sunday when they host Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jeff Driskel was Lock’s replacement this past Sunday in Pittsburgh.
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