JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Austin Romine Jersey . - Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith is waiting to select a backup quarterback. Watching a replay of the preseason finale at Jacksonville might make his decision an easy one. T.J. Yates made a strong case to be Matt Ryans backup Thursday night, throwing for 243 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-14 win over the Jaguars. Yates had shown little in the teams first three exhibitions, completing 39.4 per cent of his passes, with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Second-year player Sean Renfree posted better numbers and seemingly had an edge in the competition. But Yates shined against the Jaguars. "Things worked well tonight," said Yates, who spent his first three seasons in Houston. "Its taken me a little time to get use to this offence coming in so late. I was playing catch-up there in camp and preseason, and I was getting pretty frustrated with the way I was playing in some of the games. But I kept working hard, and coach gave me some more chances to do things." Yates highlight throw was a 67-yard touchdown strike to Freddie Martino in the second quarter, a deep ball that put Atlanta up 21-7. His other TD came on a swing pass to Antone Smith, who broke several tackles during the 66-yard catch and run. Yates completed 15 of 20 passes and was sacked twice. "I thought T.J. had an outstanding game," Smith said. "That quarterback battle has been an interesting one and thats going to lead us into a number of very difficult decisions." Renfree was 9-of-12 passing for 62 yards. Ryan didnt play, spending the game on the sideline with running back Steven Jackson and receivers Roddy White, Julio Jones and Harry Douglas. Defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux also got the night off. Jacksonville held out a number of first-teamers, too. Quarterback Chad Henne, running back Toby Gerhart, safety Johnathan Cyprien, linebacker Paul Posluszny, left tackle Luke Joeckel, tight end Marcedes Lewis, defensive end Chris Clemons and defensive tackle Roy Miller were among the teams healthy scratches. Kicker Josh Scobee, safety Winston Guy, cornerback Alan Ball, safety Craig Loston, right tackle Austin Pasztor, guard Zane Beadles, offensive tackle Josh Wells, tight end Clay Harbor and defensive tackle SenDerrick Marks were held out because of injuries. With Henne resting, first-round draft pick Blake Bortles got the start for Jacksonville and extended his impressive preseason. Bortles completed 4 of 6 passes for 86 yards, including a 57-yard TD strike to fellow rookie Marqise Lee on the first play of the second quarter. "I probably waited too long to get to Marqise, but he did a good job of beating his guy off the line, getting downfield and making a play," said Bortles, the third overall pick in Mays draft. Bortles completed 32 of 51 passes for 521 yards in four exhibition games, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Despite Bortles steady improvement, hes a lock to open the season on the bench behind Henne. "As a competitor, you want to play," Bortles said. "You want to go play, obviously, but I think you have to understand your role. I understand mine. Chads our starter and Im the backup. Now my role kind of shifts. Ive got to go get try and get work in and get better at practice, do stuff for the defence on scout team and improve in those ways." Henne ended the preseason 25-of-38 passing for 230 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions. More pressing questions for Jacksonville involve the offensive line. Rookie centre Luke Bowanko, a sixth-round pick from Virginia, started in place of Mike Brewster and looked sharp again. Brewster played in the second half and grounded a snap past quarterback Ricky Stanzi — his third bad snap of the preseason. Brewster could go from being the starter to being on the street when final roster cuts come Saturday. "When you have a couple bad snaps in the first game and then you throw a low one back there in the last game, I mean, yeah, its not a comforting feeling," Brewster said. "But I know I can play in this league. I have played in this league. "Its tough, so well see. Whatever happens, happens. I cant blame anybody but myself, and whatever the problem is, Ive got to move beyond that and not let it keep on." NOTES: Jaguars WRs Tandon Doss (ankle) and Ace Sanders (leave of absence) made their preseason debuts, but Doss sustained another ankle injury and could be out a while. ... Jaguars rookie CB Rashaad Reynolds left with a hand injury and will need surgery. ... Falcons rookie RB Devonta Freeman had 87 yards — 42 rushing and 45 receiving. ___ AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Aaron Hicks Jersey . Gonzalez participated in his final game on Sunday, Atlantas 21-20 defeat at the hands of the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers, having posted four catches for 46 yards. Joe DiMaggio Jersey . You can watch the game live on TSN2 and TSN Mobile TV at 9pm et/6pm pt. Jonathan Huberdeau and Quinton Howden are expected to make their debuts for Team Canada. http://www.yankeesrookiestore.com/Yankees-Brian-Roberts-Kids-Jersey/ . Pierre last November, only to watch St. Pierre leave the UFC octagon with his welterweight title belt and a split-decision victory.Ski jumpers will have to don better helmets and could be required to wear body armour as part of a determined bid by authorities to make the sport as safe as possible, a top official said. "Its an outdoor sport, its a risky sport. We were able over the years to make it safer... we could make it (even) safer," said Walter Hofer, the ski jumping race director at the International Ski Federation (FIS). Spectacular crashes are fairly common in jumping. Three-times Olympic gold medallist Thomas Morgenstern of Austria has ended up in hospital twice in the last two months after crashes where he suffered a broken finger as well as face and head injuries. "The next goal must be to make safer helmets with higher standards. Maybe we can do something for the protection of the body," Hofer told reporters high up on the normal hill late on Monday night as women jumpers whistled by at 90 kph (60 mph) at the Sochi Olympics. "Whatever is available on the market we will try." Hofer noted that Alpine ski officials had spent a long time studying jackets that contain small air bags to help cushion the impact of falls. "When they get something up there we will use it. At the moment I am preparing to use some protection for certain parts of our body, mostly the backbone," he said. Tougher helmets will be introduced into Alpine skiing and ski jumping authorities want to adopt the same standards. In recent years the FIS has taken a series of sometimes unpopular steps it says will make the sport fairer and safer. The federation imposes minimum body mass index requirements to weed out jumpers which it says are too light. Jumpers have to wear body tight suits with low aerodynamics, much to the irritation of athletes such as four-times Olympic gold medallist Simon Ammann of Switzerland. New hills have been redesigned to make the in-run smoother, a development which some jumpers say make takeoffs harder. A complex new system to compensate skiers for wind conditions will be used at the Sochi Games for the first time. Hofer, who has been at FIS for 22 years, said he began trying to make the spoort safer some 20 years ago after he saw a series of bad falls. Miguel Andujar Jersey. "I started to talk to experts and they told me Are you crazy? If you make ski jumping safer nobody will watch. It isnt right," said the ebullient Austrian. "I would like to attract parents to deliver their children to our beloved sport in a way they know it is a sport where athletes are cared for." As well as improving safety, Hofer - who notes that "when you release an athlete at 100 km/h from the takeoff, you cant take him back - is particularly keen to address rapidly changing wind conditions that have wrecked many a competition. Headwinds help athletes soar further but if they are too strong they can produce dangerously long jumps. Conversely, tail winds cut flying distances. In the past, officials would either scrap competitions altogether or restart them halfway through to take into account changing winds, which Hofer said frustrated spectators. Jumpers used to be judged on distance and style. Under the new system, they now can also gain or be docked points to take wind conditions into account. The calculations are made by a series of computers linked to seven sensors along the in-run. "The athletes performance is removed from the influence of external conditions," said Hofer, pointing to a screen which showed the wind strength and direction from each sensor. The challenge for audiences is that the athlete who jumps the furthest does not always win. Alexander Pointner, head coach of the Austrian team, told Reuters that spectators should not have "to think What is this, that guy jumped so far but hes only fourth, whats that? Our sport should not be so difficult". Hofer has no intention of changing his mind. "Whatever makes ski jumping safer and fairer is worth it, even if sometimes you have to take something (away) from the transparency. People will understand sooner or later," he said. FIS is looking at whether it would be possible to shine a blue laser line on the snow to show the public exactly where a jumper has to land to take the lead, he added. ' ' '