Blaine Gabbert will not be the Jaguars starting QB this Sunday when Jacksonville plays plays Oakland. The third year signal caller is out with a hand laceration he suffered week one against the Chiefs.
Gabbert was injured with two minutes to go in Sunday’s season opener. At that point Kansas City had an insurmountable 28-2 lead. Already playing with a sore thumb, the third year signal caller ended his day 16-35 passing for 121 yards and two interceptions.
After the game head coach Gus Bradley showed confidence in Gabbert and said he would start against the Raiders this Sunday. Today however, his attitude was different as he told reporters Gabbert’s hand laceration is severe enough to keep him off the field.
With Blaine Gabbert benched, 28-year-old Chad Henne will get the start. Henne was signed by the Jaguars prior to the 2012 season to compete with Gabbert for the starting job. Gabbert won the job, but Henne started five games after Gabbert separated his shoulder.
Now Henne gets another chance to prove he should be the starter in Jacksonville. If he plays well he it would be surprising to see Bradley hand the job back to Gabbert.
Blaine Gabbert has been thoroughly unimpressive in his short career as a Jaguar. His hand laceration could be an unfortunate end to a disappointing tenure.
Gabbert was originally drafted by the Jaguars with the tenth overall pick in the 2011 draft. He struggled his rookie season and completed only fifty percent of his passes. His second season was slightly better and he completed fifty-eight percent of his passes. The Jaguars finished the season 2-14 though and many wondered if the Jaguars would look to replace Gabbert in the draft.
Here is the common criticism of Blaine Gabbert:
http://youtu.be/9O8Perj7TCE
A weak QB draft class in 2013 led the Jaguars to stick with Gabbert and Henne for another year. So far the decision looks like a poor one. Gabbert can almost certainly be called a draft bust at this point in his career. Henne is solid back-up QB at best and has never thrown more touchdowns than interceptions in a season.
Blaine Gabbert’s hand laceration should not spell doom for the Jaguars season. The team is rebuilding and was never seen as a playoff threat. Still, no team goes into a season expecting to lose. It will be interesting to see if Henne can make the team more competitive and exciting to watch.