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Jaguars Insider: Teammates plan to attend Blake Bortles' winter passing camp
A year ago, Blake Bortles spent the winter months in San Diego preparing for his NFL Combine and pre-draft workouts.
This offseason, Bortles will have company in Southern California.
“Anybody that runs a route and catches passes is invited,” he said.
In late February, Bortles intends to have a Jaguars West Coast Passing Camp to re-familiarize himself with his pass catchers (and vice versa).
“That’s very encouraging,” Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell said earlier this week at the Senior Bowl.
Receiver Marqise Lee is attending classes at USC, and tight end Marcedes Lewis spends a good part of his downtime in the Los Angeles area. The rest of the players will fly in to work with Bortles.
“I’ve talked to everybody, and everybody’s in,” Bortles said.
While waiting to see who his new offensive coordinator will be (the Jaguars hired Greg Olson on Wednesday), Bortles said he “tried to get away from [football] for a little bit.”
“I’ll start training pretty soon, and that’s when I’ll be able to sit down and really reflect on the season. I’ve had the opportunity to watch each game multiple times again, and it was pretty cool to see the strides the guys made. We were growing together.”
Said Caldwell: “Blake has a really good plan. He’s laid out what he wants to accomplish, and he’s taken time to get his body back to square one, and then he’ll focus on everything he needs to improve on fundamentally so when he gets back April 1, he’ll be ready to roll.”
Special teams rankings nose-dive
Once again, the Dallas Morning News’ Rick Gosselin compiled his special teams rankings, which are based on a team’s league ranking in 22 kicking-game categories.
The Jaguars ranked 27th for the 2014 season, a steep decline from their seventh-place finish in 2013.
The top five: Philadelphia, Buffalo, New England, Atlanta and Baltimore.
The bottom five: Tennessee, San Diego, Washington, Carolina and Green Bay.
The Jaguars did not rank first or last in any of the categories.
Learning week for Boselli
No, former Jaguars left tackle Tony Boselli isn’t leaving his posts as an assistant coach at Episcopal High School and analyst on the Jaguars Radio Network. But, yes, that was Boselli working with the offensive lineman during this week’s Senior Bowl.
“I love coaching, so I asked [coach] Gus [Bradley] if I could come and help out,” ol’ No. 71 said. “It’s been such a great experience, and I’m so appreciative.”
Asked if he could see himself coaching in the NFL a few years down the road, Boselli quipped: “I don’t know what I’m doing next week,” before adding: “Who knows what the future holds.
“That wasn’t the purpose of doing this; the purpose was that I love coaching and love this organization, and it allowed me to learn a lot about coaching, getting different ideas by being in the [meeting] room, seeing what [assistant coach] Luke [Butkus] sees and how he coaches the techniques.”
Three & Out
■ On Wednesday, Bradley didn’t want to touch the Deflategate debacle with a 100-foot pole. But on Thursday, he did comment … a little. “Talking to [equipment manager] Jimmy Luck, they go through all [the footballs] and manage it,” he said. “You put a lot of trust in them. I don’t know what took place [in New England], but it makes you go back, take a look at things and say, ‘Hey, what’s our procedure?’ ”
■ It was a good week for Jaguars left guard Zane Beadles. According to the Los Angeles Times, he bought a townhouse in Newport Beach, Calif., for $2.74 million. According to the report, the residence is 1,800 square feet and faces the Pacific Ocean. Beadles signed a five-year, $30 million contract with the Jaguars last March.
■ Caldwell on receiver Arrelious Benn, who was signed earlier this month after missing the last two years with injuries: “He’s a powerful guy and really good with the football in his hands. And a physical specimen as a receiver. He came in and ran really well and worked out really well for us. If he’s healthy, he could be a good hit for us.”
http://jacksonville.com/sports/football/jaguars/2015-01-24/story/jaguars-insider-teammates-plan-attend-blake-bortles-winter