Jacksonville Jaguars: Does Cody Kessler calm your anxiety?

If Blake Bortles gets hurt this season, does Cody Kessler calm your anxiety about who leads the Jacksonville Jaguars offense?

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been fortunate that Blake Bortles is very tough. Bortles became the stating quarterback in 2014 and has not missed a game. Since nobody is immune from injuries, how do you feel about Cody Kessler?

Does the thought of Kessler leading the Jaguars calm your anxiety? What if Bortles suffers a season-ending injury? Is Kessler an upgrade from Chad Henne?

Here’s what Kessler has done in his short career, so far. He has started eight games after being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2016. Cleveland lost all those games.

Statistically, he has completed 139 of 218 passes for 1506 yards with a quarterback rating of 87.4. Kessler has thrown six touchdown passes and has thrown three interceptions. Most of all, his quarterback rating and completion percentage are higher than Bortles (87.4 to 80.8, and 63.8 percent to 59.1, respectively).

Because playing in Cleveland was very challenging, Kessler kept working. Phillip Heilman of Jacksonville.com had Kessler’s comments:

"“The competitor in me wanted to be out there playing,” Kessler said of his experience in Cleveland. “I took that year as, ‘Stay ready and prepare as a starter, but work on stuff I want to work on and improve on and get extra reps…I tried to just stay positive and optimistic the whole time.”"

The difference between playing in Cleveland and Jacksonville is vastly different. First of all, the Jaguars have their sights on the Super Bowl. Cleveland just wants to win a game.

Kessler is working hard to win the backup job to Bortles. He realizes that everything is earned at this level. As a result, expect him to win the job easily over rookie Tanner Lee.

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Finally, Bortles is as tough as anyone playing in the NFL. He would play hurt as he did last season. But, in case of a season ending injury, Kessler is more than able to fill that role. That should calm your anxiety a little. Its going to be an interesting training camp.