Bruce Arians on Blaine Gabbert's Bad Reputation: 'He Was on Really S--tty Teams'

Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians doesn't think Blaine Gabbert is solely to blame for being considered a bust in the NFL after the Jacksonville Jaguars selected him 10th overall in 2011.

"He was on really s--tty teams," Arians said Wednesday, per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com.

Gabbert is in line to start Sunday against the Houston Texans, as Carson Palmer remains out with a broken arm and Drew Stanton nurses a sprained knee.

"I can honestly say this is the best feeling I've ever had about playing a third quarterback," Arians said of Gabbert, per Kyle Odegard of the Cardinals' official site. "If he plays, I feel really good about it."

Arians isn't necessarily wrong when he says Gabbert has been saddled with some bad teams. The Jaguars won 11 combined games in his three years in Jacksonville, and the San Francisco 49ers were in the twilight of the Jim Harbaugh era. San Francisco was 8-8 in 2014 before going 7-25 over the next two seasons.

And it's true the right situation can mean everything for a quarterback. Jared Goff looked lost as a rookie under head coach Jeff Fisher, and now he could make the Pro Bowl after Sean McVay replaced Fisher ahead of the 2017 season.

At the same time, Arians is arguably a little too generous to Gabbert. The 28-year-old has completed 56 percent of his passes and thrown for 38 touchdowns and 37 interceptions. Among the 100 quarterbacks with at least 100 pass attempts since 2011, Gabbert is 81st in passer rating (71.5), according to Pro Football Reference.

Teams are so starved for talented quarterbacks the 49ers traded a second-round draft pick to the New England Patriots to acquire Jimmy Garoppolo, who has attempted 94 passes in his first four years.

If a front office thought highly enough of Gabbert, then surely he wouldn't have settled for a one-year deal with Arizona to back up Palmer.

Then again, playing under Arians, who has a track record of helping quarterbacks develop, could be exactly what Gabbert needs to finally break through in the NFL.