The Blaine Gabbert era in Jacksonville may have just ended

The Blaine Gabbert era may finally, mercifully be over. The team announced that starting quarterback Blaine Gabbert will be out in week two against the Oakland Raiders with a laceration on his hand. The news means backup Chad Henne will once again be called upon to fill in for Gabbert.

The fact is, the current regime inherited Blaine Gabbert, and with a weak quarterback market, they had little choice but to roll with the former tenth overall pick. In his third season, Gabbert has yet to develop into the franchise quarterback the team had been looking for when they drafted him, and suddenly, it seems that Chad Henne has a golden opportunity to steal the job.

To be realistic, Chad Henne isn’t a guy we expect to wow us throughout the regular season, if he does indeed take and hold the Jaguars’ starting job. By all accounts, he’s not a quarterback ready to make the leap to the upper tiers of the NFL, but he would give the team an opportunity to win some football games, something they don’t appear able to do with Gabbert under center.

Let’s be clear on this point though; Blaine Gabbert’s reign isn’t completely over. He may be able to come back from this injury and lead the team. Although he’s out for the immediate future, Chad Henne was completely unimpressive during preseason action, meaning the competition at quarterback may be as open as ever, even with Blaine Gabbert on the sideline.

The Jaguars will likely try to hold off making any permanent decisions until Justin Blackmon and Marcedes Lewis rejoin the team’s offensive lineup. They’re just not the same without two playmakers in the passing game missing, and it’s probably unfair to completely write Gabbert off until we see him play with those two players. Still, this wasn’t the start the Jaguars were looking for, and even though the team sports a new general manager, a new head coach and a brand new look, they appear to be a reboot of last year’s 2-14 team. If that’s the case, the Blaine Gabbert era is likely over.

About Shane Clemons

Shane Clemons came from humble beginnings creating his own Jaguars blog before moving on to SBNation as a featured writer for the Jaguars. He then moved to Bloguin where he briefly covered the AFC South before taking over Bloguin's Jaguars blog. Since the inception of This Given Sunday, Shane has served as an editor for the site, doing his best not to mess up a good thing.

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