NFL Rumors: Injured David Garrard Clears Way for Blaine Gabbert with Jaguars

For the Jacksonville Jaguars, the future may be on its way much sooner than most expected.

According to Vito Stellino of the Florida Times-Union, Jags starting quarterback David Garrard was carted off the practice field Thursday night with tightness in his back. The 10th-year veteran out of East Carolina was knocked down at least once during 11-on-11 drills while wearing the red no-contact jersey.

The injury isn't likely to require Garrard to undergo X-rays nor does head coach Jack del Rio expect that it will keep him out of the team's scrimmage on Saturday night.

However, that hasn't done much to suspend the rampant speculation that a gimpy Garrard might give way to rookie Blaine Gabbert sooner than anyone originally expected. Jacksonville's choice with the 10th overall pick in the 2011, Gabbert has looked good in practice thus far, albeit with most of his snaps have come with the second-team offense.

That is, until Garrard went down, thereby opening up opportunities for Gabbert to build a rapport with stars like Maurice Jones-Drew and Marcedes Lewis.

Said Del Rio of what he's seen from Gabbert in camp:

"

"He can run, he's fast, he's got a good arm. He's got a skill set in terms of arm and size and speed, those things. We think he's got a bright upside. He's got a lot of work to do. He's fairly quick getting the ball out. The ball gets there on time and accurate and those are good qualities to have."

"

The fact that Gabbert has a great deal of work ahead of him is to be expected for any rookie, especially one like Gabbert who played in a spread offense at Missouri. Gabbert has been adamant in the past that he's more of a pro-style passer than an option guy anyway, having honed his quarterbacking skills with a private trainer since high school.

Nonetheless, odds are that Gabbert won't Garrard's thunder just yet.

Unless, of course, injury woes build up ahead of the rookie. Del Rio insists that Garrard will be the starter when healthy and that Gabbert might not even be the second-stringer:

"

"We've said many times David's our guy and we have a capable backup in Luke [McCown] and we're going to bring Blaine along."

"

Really, Jack? Luke McCown? The same guy who's played in all of 16 games in seven NFL seasons?

Sure, it makes perfect sense for the Jags to protect a guy who they expect to be their franchise star for the next 10 years, but it's hard to imagine them holding Gabbert back if Garrard's aches and pains become a serious issue, particularly if Gabbert outperforms the moribund McCown in practice. The fact that Gabbert, not McCown, joined the first-stringers when Garrard went down suggests that the young gunslinger is closer to seeing the field than del Rio is letting on.

Not that anyone should expect Gabbert to take the job from Garrard outright, at least not immediately. Nor will Garrard cede his position without a fight. After all, Garrard isn't all that far removed from his Pro Bowl season in 2009, though the fact that he's thrown double-digit interceptions during each of the last three seasons suggests that he is anything but infallible under center.

Will del Rio keep him Garrard at the top of his depth chart if the veteran starts throwing more completions to the opponent than touchdowns to his own teammates? Perhaps, though Gabbert's progress will probably dictate a switch of that nature to a degree. 

For now, though, it's too tempting to watch Gabbert work with the starting offense and not imagine that the future is well on its way in Jacksonville.

More QB Controversy: Tim Tebow vs. Kyle Orton in Denver

For more news on David Garrard, Blaine Gabbert, the Jacksonville Jaguars and all the latest NFL rumors, please check out Bleacher Report's dedicated NFL page.