Jaguars Choose Gabbert As Starting Quarterback
JACKSONVILLE (CBSMiami) - The Jacksonville Jaguars have settled on a starting quarterback, and he won't be playing for the rest of the preseason.
Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley chose quarterback Blaine Gabbert as his starter for the regular season. Bradley also revealed Gabbert will miss the rest of the preseason to heal a hairline fracture in his right thumb.
Gabbert's hand hit a defender's helmet during Saturday's exhibition game at the New York Jets. Before the injury, Gabbert completed 13 of 16 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown — arguably his best showing in three years.
Gabbert won't need surgery, but he will wear a protective brace while the bone heals.
The former University of Missouri star has struggled thus far in his NFL career. For his career, which spans 25 games, he's thrown for 3,876 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions and has a career quarterback rating of 77.4.
Gabbert has improved year-over-year in quarterback rating, but hasn't been able to take the next step to become a quality starter.
He will get some additional help this year with Maurice Jones-Drew coming back at running back and he'll have an additional blocker in front of him in number two overall pick Luke Joeckel.
But, Gabbert will be without his top wide receiver, Justin Blackmon, for the first four games while he serves a suspension due to violating the league's substance abuse program.
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