Gabbert, Henne Splitting Time At QB
By Luke Sims
May 13, 2013; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert (11) and Chad Henne (7) chat as they walk off the field after organized team activities at The Florida Blue Health
Competition is the theme for the Jacksonville Jaguars and that is no more true at any position than at quarterback. Blaine Gabbert must prove he is the man in year three while Chad Henne is trying to prove that he is still relevant in the NFL. Gabbert may be the “favorite” to get the job to most of us observing the battle, but it is really a close competition between the two quarterbacks. The closeness of the competition is most prevalent in the splitting of snaps for the players.
Per Gregg Rosenthal, the Jaguars’ quarterbacks are splitting reps with the first team evenly. Head coach Gus Bradley had this to say about the competition:
"We’re rotating by period. There’s a lot of competition, and they’re battling it. Everything we do, we’re trying to create some sort of competition for our team. Hopefully as OTAs go on, we get more and more of those situations to evaluate them. I think once we get pads on and see how they react in different situations, it will become more clear."
Gabbert and Henne are the leaders in an underwhelming quarterback competition featuring two players who couldn’t secure the 2013 job during the last season. Undrafted free agents Jordan Rodgers (surgery for sports hernia) and Matt Scott likely won’t be pushing for the starting job any time soon, but OTAs may make us all want to see more of them as time goes on. The Jags need a strong quarterback and they have struggled to have one since Mark Brunell was passed over in favor of Byron Leftwich.
– Luke N. Sims
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