Is it all over for Blaine Gabbert? – NFL Feature
The Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert is out of action for last couple of weeks because of an arm injury. He will remain so for the rest of the season, which is very disappointing for him, and even more for his team.
It is second straight year that Blaine has failed himself as an offence leader, for a majority of starts at least. There was some improvement in his form this year but overall he has let down the Jags for second season in a row.
The Jaguars who are on the field under first-time owner Shahid Khan and first-time coach Mike Mularkey are on the brink of ending the season on the worst ever record, and Blaine leads them from the front.
Mularkey at the time of joining the team as a head coach earlier this year talked to Gabbert and warned him to improve or else think of alternatives. He might have thought the warning was enough for him, and will work out at the end, but it never happened
until the second year offence leader was ousted within an injury scare.
Soon after taking stand in favour of Gabbert, Mularkey was criticised about the choice. A majority of commentators knew he was gambling on a failed horse. An example of former coach Del Rio was in front of him. Rio had taken a bold decision of sticking with
Gabbert on the starting line in spite of his consistent failings and at the end he lost his job because of the decision.
Jags new owner Shahid Khan who bought the team from Wayne Weaver entrusted the hiring firing job to general manager Gene Smith. Even coach Mularkey is hired by Smith. So both officials almost agreed to let Gabbert stay on the starting line, and they know
that the gamble has not paid them off.
One of the main issues that have confronted the quarterback throughout is his inconsistency. In one game he came well up to the team expectations and nosedived in the next. It has been the story of Gabbert’s performance during the entire 2011 and 2012 seasons,
although the latter is slightly better.
He had another chance to prove himself this season but failed, and it must be very much clear to him now that there is hardly any room left for him with or without Jaguars as far as his prospects to play as an offence leader are concerned.
The two-year failure on his profile is more than an evidence of his failing and no team will be willing to take him on the starting line ever again unless as a temporary replacement. He more likely will have to accept a backup position at the Jaguars or
elsewhere, if he seeks to move out of Jacksonville or is released by the Jags.
With the season nearing its end, the Jags must be gearing up for some rebuilding that will include hiring and firing. The players like Gabbert are at forefront of the cleansing drive. Only chance for Blaine to extend his stay with the Jags will be as a backup
quarterback, and that too will depend upon the management.
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