Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles deals with more criticism than any other starting quarterback in football, namely because he's not a good quarterback and he plays for a good football team that is currently in the midst of a playoff run. Though Bortles has occasionally flashed signs of improvement in his fourth season, the criticism has persisted as the Jaguars prepare for their upcoming game against the Steelers.

On Wednesday, when Bortles was asked about his critics, he acknowledged that the criticism will never stop. And then he made a really good point that has to do with LeBron James. Don't worry, he didn't compare himself to the greatest basketball player of all-time (cue the Michael Jordan arguments in the comment section below).

"It'll probably never stop," he said. "There's people who think LeBron James sucks. So if that happens, I'm sure there will always be people who always think I suck."

That's a fair point. If someone like James -- the best current basketball player -- is criticized as frequently as he is, then someone like Bortles -- one of the worst current starting quarterbacks -- is also going to receive criticism. The point being, nobody can ever completely escape criticism. The only difference is that the criticism Bortles receives is mostly justified unlike the criticism James takes.

Since entering the league in 2014, Bortles has completed 59.1 percent of his passes, averaged 6.7 yards per attempt, thrown 90 touchdowns and 64 interceptions (the most in that span), and posted an 80.8 passer rating. Even though the Jaguars won a playoff game over the Bills during Wild Card Weekend, that had everything to do with their defense and almost nothing to do with Bortles, who accumulated more rushing yards than passing yards in the 10-3 win. That kind of performance probably won't work against a superior Steelers team on Sunday.

For Bortles to put an end to the criticism, he'll need to piece together an entire season of competent quarterback play -- not the fleeting stretches that we've seen from time to time. In the meantime, outplaying Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday would help improve his image. But that seems like a far-fetched fantasy given how poorly he's played in recent weeks and over the course of his four-year career.