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NFL Preseason Week 3 Betting Odds Carolina at Jacksonville
When: Thursday, 7:30 PM ET Where: EverBank Field, Jacksonville TV: Local only (NFL Network replay) Radio: Sirius XM Radio Stream Option: NFL Live Opening NFL Preseason Lines: pick’em (43.5)GAMETIME WEATHER
Mostly Cloudy 29°C/84°F
Humidity 76% Precipitation % 16% Cloud Cover 63% Wind 6 mph SSE Stadium Type Open
Jags’ QB Situation Up In Air
Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles was drafted No. 3 overall in 2014. He struggled as a rookie, but then most quarterbacks do. Bortles was quite a bit better in 2015, but then regressed in 2016 as the Jags stunk again. He has an NFL-high 63 turnovers since joining the NFL, including 51 interceptions and 11 of those returned for a touchdown.Bortles was presumed to have a lock on the starting job, but not after two terrible preseason games. Coach Doug Marrone says it’s an open competition between Bortles and backup Chad Henne. Who starts this game? Marrone has a tentative plan for what he wants to do but won’t be announcing a final decision until Wednesday night. Marrone wants to see how Bortles and Henne look in Tuesday’s practice and Wednesday’s walk-through just in case he decides to change his mind.
“I’m going to make sure I tell the quarterbacks in what I feel is a good amount of time to get themselves prepared, so it’ll probably be when we’re at the hotel the night before the game [is when] I’ll probably talk to them about it,” Marrone said. “I just want to get all the information. I want to make sure I’m comfortable with the direction I’m going. I just want to make sure I’m doing the best for the team.”
In last week’s 12-8 loss to Tampa Bay, Bortles completed 8 of 13 passes for 65 yards but he twice missed receiver Allen Robinson on deep passes. He slightly overthrew Robinson down the sideline and another pass to a wide-open Robinson was badly underthrown. He also has had several poor practices, including a five-interception day, and still struggles with his decision-making and accuracy.
Preseason NFL Week 3 Winning SU Picks
Some Jags Banged Up
Jacksonville WR Marqise Lee will sit again. He hurt his leg in camp and feared it was broken. The injury wasn’t as bad as he feared. Tests revealed he had suffered a sprained ankle — no break — and he wore a protective boot for several days. He is now walking around without a boot or crutches. Lee thinks he’ll be ready for Week 1.Lee had injury problems his first two seasons but Lee was healthy in 2016 and had 63 catches for 851 yards and three touchdowns. He also averaged 30.3 yards on 18 kickoff returns, including taking one back 100 yards for a touchdown against Houston, and arguably was the Jaguars’ best offensive player.
Also out vs. Carolina are running back Leonard Fournette, cornerback A.J. Bouye and tight end Mychal Rivera due to injuries. All three missed last Thursday’s preseason game against Tampa Bay. Bouye and Rivera also missed the preseason opener against New England.
Newton To Play For Cats?
Former NFL MVP Cam Newton has yet to play this preseason for Carolina off shoulder surgery but might do so Thursday. Newton increased his workload in practice Monday, which could lead to his first work of the preseason.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera said they need to see whether Newton shows up to work in the morning sore before they declare whether he’ll play Thursday night in Jacksonville. They’d like to get Newton some time in the preseason, but they knew he wasn’t going to play last week in Tennessee after he threw just 10 passes during team drills during their joint workouts with the Titans.
Also Monday, Rivera liked what he saw out of second-round draft pick Curtis Samuel, coming off a hamstring injury that sidelined him for most of camp. But Rivera wouldn’t commit to the former Ohio State wide receiver playing in Thursday’s preseason game.
“We want to be smart with him,” Rivera said on Monday. “We don’t want to put him in a situation where he goes from zero to 50 right away. We’ll take a good look. If he has a good day tomorrow we’ll consider it.”
