Press Taylor: Jaguars have ‘high hopes’ for backup QB Nathan Rourke
Former Canadian Football League star Nathan Rourke probably won’t be starting games for the Jacksonville Jaguars any time soon, but offensive coordinator Press Taylor isn’t discounting the quarterback’s potential impact.
“He’s done a great job, just in terms of growing from the spring, through the summer, into now at training camp,” Taylor said of Rourke on Monday. “He’s done a great job in that [quarterback] room with those guys, and he’s somebody that’s going to get a lot of opportunities as well coming up in these preseason games, that we have high hopes for leading our offense.”
Rourke, 25, previously spent two seasons with the CFL’s B.C. Lions and earned the league’s Most Outstanding Canadian award after completing 78.7 percent of his passes in 2022 for 3,349 yards and 25 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.
After working out for at least a dozen NFL teams in December and January, Rourke opted to sign with the Jaguars.
To earn a place on the team’s 53-man roster this fall, Rourke will likely have to beat out former San Francisco 49ers starter C.J. Beathard for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart. Catching up to a seventh-year veteran entering his second season in the Jaguars’ offensive system could be a challenge, though.
“He’s done a good job,” Taylor said of Rourke. “The big thing with those guys is understanding what we’re trying to do on each play, where to go to with the ball and playing on time. Throughout this training camp, we’re really evaluating the quarterback’s process, not as concerned with what the stats may look like and this and that, because again, we’re not scheming our defense.
“We want them to understand the process within each play and how we get through our progressions, when we may throw a ball to a certain guy in certain times.”
The first of Jacksonville’s three preseason games is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 12 at 5 p.m. ET against the Dallas Cowboys.
