The Jacksonville Jaguars travel to New England on Thursday night for their first 2011 preseason game against the Patriots and they'll do it with a rookie at quarterback. 10th overall pick QB Blaine Gabbert will get the nod as the starter, head coach Jack Del Rio confirmed.
Blaine Gabbert Will Start For Jacksonville Jaguars Vs. New England Patriots
With QB David Garrard likely out, the Jaguars will turn to rookie QB Blaine Gabbert as their starter in Thursday’s night’s preseason opener against the Patriots.
On the depth chart, the Jaguars list QB David Garrard as the starter. But in this lockout-shortened offseason, I think the coaching staff needs a good, long look at the rookies because they've only seen them for a week or two in training camp.
Garrard isn’t expected to play with the Jaguars on Thursday night after suffering an injury last week at Jaguars training camp. He might be able to play if it were a regular season game but there’s no sense in the Jaguars rushing the situation when they can benefit from Gabbert running with the first team offense.
As to whether Gabbert can start the season as the No. 1 quarterback, I’d encourage you to check out a couple of pieces from SB Nation’s Big Cat Country: the case to start Gabbert and the case to sit Gabbert.
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