Jaguars likely to stick with Blaine Gabbert as starter

Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell seems content to give quarterback Blaine Gabbert more time to establish himself.
“We’ve got the second-youngest quarterback in the NFL,’’ he said.

Of Gabbert’s struggles last season before he got hurt, Caldwell said, “That was his second year. What were they saying about other quarterbacks after their second year? We’re looking for improvement [in his third year]. We need to build around him. We’ll upgrade whenever we can upgrade.’’

Head coach Gus Bradley said he has visited with Gabbert and said, “He’s been very impressive so far in our conversations.’’

Gabbert averaged 182 yards, 1.0 TDs and 0.7 INTs in his first nine starts in 2012. He completed 58% of his passes. After Gabbert went down, Chad Henne averaged 268 yards, 1.4 TDs and 1.4 INTs in seven games. He completed only 54% of his passes. At first glance, it looks as if Caldwell's decision to stick with Gabbert will hurt the Jacksonville passing game as a whole, and that means we'll have to downgrade WRs Cecil Shorts and Justin Blackmon.