JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -David Garrard’s preseason opener included three series, two dropped passes, two three-and-outs and one first down.
He threw for 35 yards, then watched backup Luke McCown do everything right in relief. It certainly wasn’t the kind of outing Garrard wanted or needed, especially not to begin a season that likely will determine his future with the franchise.
“It’s no different than any other time I’ve been here in this position,” Garrard said. “It’s just how it is, especially when Luke has an amazing game like he did. … You’re going to have rumbles. For us to not get off to a strong start, you can see why fans and media want to start stuff up. But it is the preseason. I don’t want to say it is a preseason like taking anything away from it, but we still have to keep everything in perspective.”
eaver and coach Jack Del Rio challenged Garrard in January, his performance is under more scrutiny than ever before. Every read, every reaction, every decision, every throw is being monitored and magnified.
And when the end result looks like it did Friday in Philadelphia – the Jaguars were outgained 165-10 in the first quarter – Garrard knows what to expect.
“You got to be able to have thick skin and be able to move on and understand the perspective on everything,” said Garrard, a former backup who beat out Byron Leftwich in the 2007 preseason. “I wouldn’t say it’s gotten easier. I would just say I understand it more. So when situations come up, I already have an understanding of what’s probably going to be said or what’s not going to be said. I’m able to handle it, where back in the day I might not have known what was going to be coming and all of a sudden it hits me and I’m blind-sided a little bit.
“Now, I already know what’s probably going to be said and you just have to brush your shoulders off and keep moving.”
Garrard gets a chance to redeem himself Saturday night against Miami. He expects to play a little longer and have more chances to make plays.
ays. It would be different if we were outmatched, outgunned and didn’t stand a chance. But that wasn’t even it. It was more of us not doing our job.”
Garrard could have made excuses.
Offensive tackles Eugene Monroe (knee) and Eben Britton (calf) missed the game, and receiver Mike Sims-Walker dropped two third-down passes that would have moved the chains.
“We have a great quarterback and we have to make him better,” Sims-Walker said. “A lot of people are nagging and pulling on David to do this or do that, but he’s only as good as the people that surround him. We got to do our job. The line has to block, the running backs have to pick up blitzes and we have to get open and catch the ball. That will make David better. We make our quarterback; he doesn’t make us.”
Maybe so, but Weaver and Del Rio sent a strong message to Garrard following last season. Weaver quietly questioned Garrard’s leadership skills, then Del Rio said Garrard was in the “middle tier of quarterbacks in the league.” Although it wasn’t groundbreaking news considering Garrard has thrown 30 touchdown passes and 23 interceptions the last two seasons and been sacked 84 times, it put the 32-year-old veteran on notice.
McCown’s performance against the Eagles didn’t help, either.
McCown completed 11 of 15 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns, including a 73-yarder to Troy Williamson and a 55-yarder to Tiquan Underwood.
r that his numbers came against second- and third-team players. Del Rio reiterated that notion Monday when asked about Garrard’s job security.
“I wouldn’t even care to get into that kind of discussion,” Del Rio said. “I would think even getting into questions like that would show a lack of perspective. We’ll stay the course in terms of working on things we need to work on and looking to be good as a football team.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, we’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to do better and we’ll just keep our head down and keep working at it and certainly not going to get caught up in that kind of discussion after a couple of series in the first preseason game.”
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