TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Byron Leftwich is not interested in rehashing the past.
The veteran quarterback has a chance to earn Tampa Bay’s starting job Saturday night, and he insists it’s not a big deal that the opportunity comes against the team that gave up on him two preseasons ago.
“As a quarterback in this league, most of us are going to get thrown into what I call a blender. They throw you in, and they hit liquefy or ice-crush. You’ve just got to survive it,” Leftwich said.
“If you can survive it, it makes you a better person. I believe it makes you a better quarterback because it gets you prepared for a lot of different situations.”
Including returning to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars, who drafted him in the first round in 2003 with expectations he’d finally lead them to a Super Bowl.
Leftwich said visiting Jacksonville in a different uniform is not even a new story line. That happened last year, although he did so as a backup with Pittsburgh and did not play.
Jaguars get to the playoffs once in four seasons before losing his job to David Garrard two years ago.
“It’s not personal anymore. I actually had time to heal, so it’s not about me going back to Jacksonville. It’s about us going up there and making sure we execute, do the things we’ve got to do to make sure when it does get serious in September that we’ve been doing all the little things that we need to do.”
Pressed on the subject of being released so late in training camp that it was difficult to latch on with another team, Leftwich conceded it would have been difficult to go back later in 2007 as a member of an Atlanta team reeling in the aftermath of dogfighting charges that toppled Michael Vick.
Leftwich joined the Falcons the third week of the season, losing both games he started.
“If I had went in there that year after, I probably would have been furious. That would have been too much, to be honest with you,” the 29-year-old said.
“But right now, as I’m getting older and maturing, I understand this league is a business. It happened. We’ve both moved on. They’ve had success, and I’ve had success also.”
Leftwich spent 2008 as Ben Roethlisberger’s backup in Pittsburgh. He appeared in six games, one during the playoffs, and won a Super Bowl ring.
cksonville. Tampa Bay offered him an opportunity to compete for its starting job, and Leftwich embraced it.
“You’ve got to understand, most guys coming into this league have always been successful at everything they did. And to come in and not be successful, even if it’s for one year, it’s different,” he said.
“Having an opportunity to go through what I went through, the good and the bad, being in this situation that I’m in now, I wouldn’t have no other way because the reason I’m here with an opportunity to be a starter is because I went through all those things.”
The Jaguars aren’t looking back, either. Garrard led them to the playoffs in his first season as a full-time starter, and the quarterbacks – once on opposing sidelines of a memorable college bowl game – remain on friendly terms.
“I text him every once in a while and he texts me back,” Garrard said. “When he got the job down there, I congratulated him.”
Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio also wishes Leftwich, who’s competing with Luke McCown for Tampa Bay’s starting job, well.
“Decisions that I make have nothing personal to them. It’s all about what’s best for the team,” Del Rio said. “We made a decision. As far as I’m concerned, that’s in the past for us.”
Although Leftwich was on the sideline in October when Pittsburgh visited Jacksonville, he and Garrard haven’t played against each since the 2001 GMAC Bowl.
The Jaguars quarterback is looking forward to it.
“It’s going to make for good TV, good talk in the media and all that kind of stuff. It’ll be fun,” Garrard said. “I haven’t played against him since college, so that will be interesting. But I’m sure it’s going to be great, regardless.”
It’ll be awfully tough to match the previous meeting.
Leftwich and Marshall trailed East Carolina 38-8 at halftime, but rallied to tie in the closing seconds before winning 64-61 in double overtime. It remains the highest-scoring affair in bowl history, with the teams combining for 1,141 yards.
Leftwich was 41 of 70 for 576 yards with four touchdown passes and a TD run. He also had an interception and a fumble returned for scores. Garrard was 11 of 23 for 161 yards, with two interceptions, including one returned for a TD. He also ran 14 times for 40 yards and two scores.
“We kept battling,” Garrard recalled. “We kept putting the points on them, but they kept throwing more points at us. It was a tough game for the Pirate nation, but it was still a great game for the fans to watch.”
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AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville, Fla., contributed to this report.
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