Quote:1. Fixing Bortles. One big reason that Blake Bortles broke out in 2015 was a relentless effort from the end of his rookie year to the start of his second year to fix his quirky throwing mechanics. One big reason for his regression this year is that those fixes have begun to vanish on him. Early in training camp, Bortles quickly recognized his bad habits had resurfaced, something he conceded to those close to him may have come because he wasn’t as intensely focused on them as he had been the year before. (“I can’t believe I’m throwing that way again,” he’d say.) An effort to fix it on the fly led to fatigue, and Bortles hasn’t been able to get in front of the problem. So a couple weeks ago, I’m told, Bortles started a routine of working on mechanics in front of a mirror for an hour each Monday. Additionally, as he explained to the media this week, he flew his mechanics coach Adam Dedeaux (who works for Tom House, and helped Bortles rework his motion in 2015) to Florida for a couple days of work. Maybe he can Band-Aid the issue. But as his quarterbacks coaches emphasize to all their clients, that is very difficult to do when you’re playing in game conditions every week. So it seems the good news here is that Bortles’ problems are probably fixable. The bad news is that it may take an offseason to do it, and that’s even worse news for a coaching staff that likely will need a dramatic turnaround to make it to 2017. And it’s not like Bortles is the only issue. Keeping the team together might be a bigger one. The staff has had a harder time getting the latest wave of rookies and free-agent additions to buy into Gus Bradley’s program, which has contributed to the discipline problems everyone saw in losses to Oakland and Tennessee. When the Jags take the field in Kansas City on Sunday, they’ll have had 10 days to clean that up. We’ll see if they rally behind Bradley and new offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
<a class="bbc_url" href='http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/11/03/norv-turner-minnesota-vikings-nfl-playoff-contender-weakness-notes'>http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/11/03/norv-turner-minnesota-vikings-nfl-playoff-contender-weakness-notes</a>
TLDR summary:
So apparently Bortles slacked off on his off season regimen, and he's been trying to fix his mechanics since camp and in doing so has caused him arm to fatigue. That should explain the serious regression. It's not something likely to be fixed this season so next year could be a make or break year for Bortles.
Makes sense. He could've bought into his own hype and the hype of the team as a whole. The article is right though. They can band aid or patch for a while, but long term success is going to have to come from diligent work in the off season. I doubt Bradley will be here to see it. If Blake doesn't dedicate and fix himself, I don't think he'll be here to see it either.
Confirms much of what most of us have been saying regarding his backslide technique-wise.
Quote:<a class="bbc_url" href='http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/11/03/norv-turner-minnesota-vikings-nfl-playoff-contender-weakness-notes'>http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/11/03/norv-turner-minnesota-vikings-nfl-playoff-contender-weakness-notes</a>
TLDR summary:
So apparently Bortles slacked off on his off season regimen, and he's been trying to fix his mechanics since camp and in doing so has caused him arm to fatigue. That should explain the serious regression. It's not something likely to be fixed this season so next year could be a make or break year for Bortles.
I don't know that the word "slack off" is appropriate. He did go to California. He just didn't spend the entire off-season there like he did the previous year. If I recall correctly, the emphasis of his off-season was to improve on the mental aspects of the game and chemistry with his receivers. He did work with the receivers. It just didn't translate to the games, and in addition to that, his mechanics didn't stick.
So not only are we not seeing the payoff from the mental and chemistry aspects of his off-season work, we're also seeing the regression of his mechanics.
I agree that "slacked off" is probably not the best way to describe what happened. I guess he incorrectly assumed that his throwing motion was fixed after the work he put in the previous off-season. That's bad judgment on his part or just lack of coaching. Someone should have advised him on what to focus after the 2015 season was over. If I was Olson, I would have had an extensive season wrap up meeting with him to go over things that he did and didn't do well and what parts of the game to focus on in order of priority as part of his off season preparation.
knarnn, you may also want to add "and Bradley" to the end of the title. I think the statement that new rookies and free agents are not buying into Bradley's philosophy is pretty telling about why the team may be under-performing.
Curious to know what Carrs offseason was like......
Quote:
knarnn, you may also want to add "and Bradley" to the end of the title. I think the statement that new rookies and free agents are not buying into Bradley's philosophy is pretty telling about why the team may be under-performing.
The Gus Juice has finally run out.
Quote:I agree that "slacked off" is probably not the best way to describe what happened. I guess he incorrectly assumed that his throwing motion was fixed after the work he put in the previous off-season. That's bad judgment on his part or just lack of coaching. Someone should have advised him on what to focus after the 2015 season was over. If I was Olson, I would have had an extensive season wrap up meeting with him to go over things that he did and didn't do well and what parts of the game to focus on in order of priority as part of his off season preparation.
knarnn, you may also want to add "and Bradley" to the end of the title. I think the statement that new rookies and free agents are not buying into Bradley's philosophy is pretty telling about why the team may be under-performing.
I think that has been apparent enough this season. Players like Malik, Beachum, Prince, and Ramsey come from winning programs and proven results. This rah rah message that has been preached by Gus has worn thin after getting blown out twice this season.
It confirms what a lot of people were already thinking, Bortles isn't the type of player who is watching tape and working on mechanics every day of the offseason. He'd rather go play a round of golf or relax on the beach all day. Really not surprising to a lot of people who have seen him frequent the Jax Beach bars.
Hopefully this is a mistake he doesn't make twice.
I remember that presser at the end of last season when Blake said he wouldn't workout with House for as long as he did last season and wouldn't focus on his mechanics as much and it stood out to me then. It's surreal seeing the worst case scenario play out right now.
What a waste. If the whole season is blown because he didn't put the proper prep time in, and it can't be fixed during the season, what's the point of having this guy? If it takes a QB this much training and repetition just to throw the ball like a normal QB, we should of never drafted him to begin with.
Gus isn't the right coach when "young" players aren't buying into the hype. Aye crumba the atmosphere in that locker room. Jeez it is likely we will see more quit Sunday.
Quote:What a waste. If the whole season is blown because he didn't put the proper prep time in, and it can't be fixed during the season, what's the point of having this guy? If it takes a QB this much training and repetition just to throw the ball like a normal QB, we should of never drafted him to begin with.
I kind of agree. Can one permanently change their throwing motion? I know plenty of QB's do offseason work to fix up their mechanics but their throwing motion is usually good to begin with. Bortles' motion is atrocious.
Quote:Curious to know what Carrs offseason was like......
Well Carr does not have a mechanics issue. So, I would imagine he was studying film and working with his wide receivers to get better together. I think this spells doom for Blake. I think it is pretty funny Dave wouldn't touch Teblow, but drafts a project with a motion just as bad, and has shown he(Bortles) also cannot read a defense. Would have been better off Drafting Mack, and waiting for Winston or Mariota the year after if Carr was off the board in the 2nd. Hindsight though.
Quote:I agree that "slacked off" is probably not the best way to describe what happened. I guess he incorrectly assumed that his throwing motion was fixed after the work he put in the previous off-season. That's bad judgment on his part or just lack of coaching. Someone should have advised him on what to focus after the 2015 season was over. If I was Olson, I would have had an extensive season wrap up meeting with him to go over things that he did and didn't do well and what parts of the game to focus on in order of priority as part of his off season preparation.
knarnn, you may also want to add "and Bradley" to the end of the title. I think the statement that new rookies and free agents are not buying into Bradley's philosophy is pretty telling about why the team may be under-performing.
Blake, as any returning player, did have a season ending close-out meeting with the coaches. His assignment was on the mental aspect of the position, "owning" the playbook, and working with his receivers.
I would assume that some players have enough muscle memory with proper mechanics that they actually don't need to work on mechanics for the whole iffseadon; it is more like riding a bike for them.
As with other areas in life, there are people with so much natural talent that they can work in spurts and be great, and there are others who have some natural talent but have to work all the time to keep up with the first group. Blake thought he was in the first group. As long as he realizes he is in the second group from here on out, he could compete very reliably and well in this league.
He's worse now than he was as a rookie. That's what is really bothering me.
Carrs weakness coming out was throwing under pressure. The Raiders did everything needed to make a great Oline. We overpaid FAs and blew draft picks; now, Carr is one of the least sacked Guy's and Bortles is the most sacked guy. That's the main difference between the two and I shouldn't be as surprised by what I'm seeing as I am tbh. The oline is trash.
Quote:Curious to know what Carrs offseason was like......
Carr had a good throwing motion last year, and year before.
He didn't have to work on his mechanics