Colin Kaepernick could be a great option at quarterback for a Jacksonville Jaguars team led by Blake Bortles, but that’s not going to happen.
The Jaguars selected Bortles with the third overall pick in the 2014 draft, but he’s failed to live up to the hype over the past three seasons. But when Jaguars vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin was asked in a conference call Saturday if the team considered Kaepernick after Bortles’ and backup Chad Henne’s rough preseason, and his answer was blunt.
“No, I didn’t,” Coughlin said, via Jacksonville.com. “We did the study, the research, and we weren’t interested.”
And Coughlin refused to elaborate why.
“I’m not explaining it,” Coughlin said.
While Coughlin certainly doesn’t have to explain personnel decisions, it’s kind of a cop out considering it’s becoming hard to deny Kaepernick is being blackballed by NFL executives. It’s a disservice to fans, too, because Kaepernick is objectively better than Bortles, who almost lost the starting job this preseason, and Henne.
Bortles has a career 11-34 record over three seasons to go with a 79.6 passer rating, 51 interceptions and just 69 touchdowns. Kaepernick, on the other hand, brings an impressive running game to the table and helped lead the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl berth in 2012.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan said he’d “absolutely” sign Kaepernick if the football minds in organization suggested it, but it doesn’t appear they will.
Thumbnail photo via Reinhold Matay/USA TODAY Sports Images
