How Former Jaguars QB Blake Bortles Changed Liam Coen's Mindset

There are a lot of fond memories from Jacksonville Jaguars fans when it comes to former quarterback Blake Bortles.

And while new Jaguars head coach Liam Coen was several years away from leading the Jaguars' franchise when Bortles played his final snap for the franchise in 2018, the former top-3 pick still played a sizable role in how Coen views the position.

After the Jaguars released Bortles following the 2018 season in favor of signing Nick Foles, Bortles had two different stints with the Rams in 2019 and 2020 -- both years in which Coen was a member of Sean McVay's coaching staff. In 2020, Coen was the team's assistant quarterbacks.

Speaking on a recent episode of 'Pardon My Take', Coen explained how his time with Bortles and the Rams changed how he looks at the quarterback position all these year's later.

"He gave me a completely different perspective on the quarterback position when he came to LA. I mean, Jared [Goff] was young, still growing," Coen said.

"And just that kind of, the mentality, the little bit of the 'hey, screw it, just gonna go let it rip and go play. This is who I am. This is how I play.' He's, like. Dude I'm like, Chuck Knoblauch . Like my throwing motion, like he would kill himself. He was, like, so self-deprecating, yeah, but it was good. It was in a good way. That's actually a good word in our profession."

Bortles was always open about his own limitations at the position, which is something you won't find in many quarterbacks. In terms of quarterbacks who are unapologetically themselves, Bortles is in a class of his own.

Bortles is just one of many quarterbacks who Coen has crossed paths with over the years, joining others such as Jared Goff, Will Levis, and Baker Mayfield. Now, Coen will hope he can get similar success out of Trevor Lawrence that he has had with so many other passers.

"He is our guy. He's the franchise, and as much as we can involve him in the process without maybe putting too much on his plate, he's a new father, now a husband, he's just getting into it. But he's hungry. He's hungry," Coen said last week at the NFL Scouting Combine.

"He wants to be playing at the highest level possible, and how do we include him in some of those conversations, specifically with some of the skill players and obviously on the offensive line. So, he will definitely be involved in some of that while just being mindful of not putting too much on him, because he's going to be learning a completely new system and having to go through a new transition again.”

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