Former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback and recent Green Bay Packers signee Blake Bortles will be donning a new jersey number in 2021. The No. 5 jersey, which he wore in college and at every previous step he’s made in the NFL with Jacksonville, the Los Angeles Rams, and Denver Broncos, is retired by the Packers in honor of the late Paul Hornung, the 1961 NFL MVP.
Bortles had to change things up, and he will now be wearing No. 9 for Green Bay. The jersey was previously occupied by kicker J.J. Molson, but he swapped to No. 35 this offseason.
Bortles is one of three quarterbacks on the Packers’ roster other than Aaron Rodgers, who seems to want out. The other quarterbacks on the roster are Jordan Love, the team’s first round pick last year who didn’t appear in any games and is at least one source of Rodgers’ frustration, and Kurt Benkert, a fourth-year player who hasn’t appeared in a game.
Love is the likely candidate to back up Rodgers, assuming the latter remains on the Packers’ roster until the beginning of the season. But Bortles will compete with the second-year passer from Utah State for that job, and at the very least, he should be able to crack the 53-man roster as a third-string quarterback.