The Sports Xchange

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars will wrap up their offseason work on Thursday with the third and final day of the team’s mandatory minicamp.

That leaves a six-week window between now and when the Jaguars will officially report back to the start of training camp on Aug. 1.

While it’s considered down time for the players, many on the roster of 90 players plan to stay in Jacksonville and continue their workouts on an individual basis and with their teammates.

Count quarterback Blake Bortles in with that group.

“I’ll stay here the whole time except for maybe a week (when he goes to California for a refresher course with quarterback guru Tom House),” Bortles said on Wednesday.

“I will come in and lift here and watch and do as much as I can. I think (backup quarterback) Chad (Henne) is going to be here for most of the offseason, so we’ll meet and do stuff together.”

Bortles said other offensive specialists will also be in attendance in Jacksonville this summer.

“I know a couple of the guys are planning on staying around and the rest will be in and out most of July, so we’re going to play with whatever guys are here,” the second-year quarterback said.

The former third overall pick of the 2014 draft has been under close scrutiny by the coaching staff, teammates and the fans since his arrival in Jacksonville.

His 11 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions a year ago has especially been the subject of debate, along with his throwing motion.

But he’s spent a lot of time during the offseason working to correct his deficiencies with the hopes of reversing the touchdown-interception ratio while improving his completion percentage (58.9) and passer rating (69.5).

“The takeaway was kind of the first thing we wanted to fix,” Bortles said. “Kind of shortening up the circle and shortening up the throwing motion and following through and making sure the ball is leaving off your pointer finger, and you’re ripping your thumb down.

“I was kind of cutting across the ball throwing it like a baseball, sometimes causing some wobblers, so trying to get rid of those as much as possible.”

When asked if he was pleased with where he’s at this year compared to a year ago, Bortles chided the media a little.

“Yeah I am good with it,” he said with a laugh. “It seems like you guys like it. That’s what I did it for. I’ve got to continue to work on it, continue to improve it but it’s definitely night and day from this time last year.”