Change is no problem for Cardinals QB Gabbert
In tumultuous career, Gabbert has gotten used to adjusting
If there’s one thing Cardinals quarterback Blaine Gabbert has learned since entering the NFL in 2011, it’s how to learn.
In seven years, Gabbert’s played for three teams, eight head coaches and seven offensive coordinators. So Gabbert was not daunted by the complexity of the Cardinals system after signing a one-year deal last May.
“When you come into the league as a young quarterback, I think I was 20 or 21, and learning system after system after system, new coach, new owner, new GM, it’s like, ‘All right, I’m trying to figure this thing out. How do I approach this learning process year-in and year-out?’” Gabbert said. “Fortunately, or unfortunately, however you want to look at it, I’ve had to learn a new system each and every year, and I think by this point in time, I’ve figured out how to do
that.”
On Sunday, Gabbert will be making his second start for the Cardinals, and it will come against Jacksonville, the team that drafted Gabbert 10th overall in 2011.
His three years there were full of injuries, bad performances and losses. The Jaguars eventually traded him to San Francisco, where Gabbert spent three years before coming to Arizona.
Gabbert admitted Sunday’s game is special for him.
“Yeah, that was the team that drafted me,” he said. “Things didn’t work out there, but looking back on it, hindsight is always 20-20. That was a long time ago. I’ve played – this is my second team since I was there, so it’s been four years.”
Gabbert is 9-31 as an NFL starter, which Cardinals coach Bruce Arians has attributed to being on “sh---y teams.” But Gabbert didn’t improve those teams, either, which was one reason he was available to the Cardinals.
The Cardinals liked Gabbert immediately. His skills were obvious: a strong arm, good mobility, intelligence. What Arians wondered was if Gabbert’s confidence had been damaged by six seasons of struggles.
Gabbert answered that question right away, and by the end of the preseason, the Cardinals were intrigued enough to keep him as the third quarterback.
“Gosh, he’s started and he’s played in so many offenses, so it’s not like you’re throwing a rookie out there or a guy that’s never played before,” Arians said.
Ideally, Gabbert would have been inactive for every game this season. But Carson Palmer suffered a broken left arm against the Rams on Oct. 22, and backup Drew Stanton suffered a sprained knee against Seattle two weeks ago.
So Gabbert was thrust into the starting lineup, and he performed well in the loss to the Texans last week, throwing for three touchdowns for the first time in his career.
It will be difficult to be that successful against the Jaguars, who are 7-3 and have allowed the fewest points in the NFL. Only four Jaguars remain from Gabbert’s time there.
“I don’t have a background with him, like maybe some other people do in this league or this building,” Jaguars coach Doug Marrone said. “I went out there and looked at the tape and saw someone that, obviously, can make all the throws, has a very good arm, has excellent mobility, a good decision maker, and thought that if he has a clean pocket, and if he is able to stay in rhythm, he is very, very dangerous. They obviously have a lot of weapons on the outside, plus in the backfield.”
Gabbert has done enough to convince the Cardinals he could at least be a solid backup in 2018. Success on Sunday will help Gabbert prove he can be more than that and prove critics wrong.
“That really doesn’t affect any part of me,” he said of the criticism he’s received over the years. “Everybody’s always going to have their opinion. Everybody’s the best Monday morning quarterback in the world, but the reality of the situation is there are 32 starting quarterbacks in the world.
“I’m accountable to the guys in the locker room, the coaching staff, the people upstairs, the ownership of this football team. And really, If I know that I’ve put in a good day’s work, put my best foot forward, busted my tail on game day, I can sleep well at night.”
Notes
Receiver Brittan Golden (groin) was added to the injury report. He did not practice on Thursday. Defensive linemen Josh Mauro (ankle) and Corey Peters (ankle), receiver John Brown (toe) and running back Elijhaa Penny (knee) did not practice. Linebacker Chandler Jones (hip/knee) practiced in full after being limited on Wednesday.
The Texans did not practice on Thursday.