JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Jacksonville's quarterback competition isn't close to being settled, even after a week of training camp and a Saturday night scrimmage.
Blaine Gabbert threw for 40 yards and two touchdowns - both in goal-line drills - but did little to distance himself as the team's starter. Chad Henne threw for 64 yards and a score - also in goal-line drills - but was sacked five times.
``The quarterbacks got us started off really good, but we have to finish,'' coach Gus Bradley said.
Gabbert completed his first four passes for 25 yards, moving the ball across midfield. But the opening drive stalled and so did the much-maligned, third-year pro. He completed only three of his final 11 passes.
His best throws came in near the end zone, where he found Mohamed Massaquoi for a 12-yard touchdown play and later found tight end Brett Brackett in the back of the end zone for a 1-yard scoring strike.
We got in a little rhythm,'' Gabbert said.In the red zone, it's crucial to make plays, so when the opportunity's there, we have to come away with points, preferably touchdowns.''
Gabbert missed parts of two practices earlier in the week after spraining his right ankle. But he showed mobility and few, if any, lingering effects in the scrimmage.
It felt good,'' he said.It's not where I want it to be at, but it's going to slowly progress and get better from here.''
Henne started with the second-team unit, but got several series with the starters. He completed four of his first six passes, but also faded down the stretch.
His lone touchdown came from the 2-yard line, when he connected with tight end Marcedes Lewis on a jump ball in the corner of the end zone.
There were some things we miscued and some screw-ups, but overall I thought we did some good things,'' Henne said.And there's some things to learn from.''
The Jaguars decided not to select a quarterback in the draft. Instead, new general manager Dave Caldwell and coach Gus Bradley opted to use their first season to closer evaluate Gabbert. The former Missouri standout was thrown into a starting role as a rookie and played with a lackluster receiving corps. Last season, his patchwork offensive line was one of the worst in the league and he had two youngsters at wideout.
Caldwell and Bradley are willing to see what he can do with better talent around him. But they're also giving Henne every chance to win the job.
We've got five weeks before the first regular-season game,'' Gabbert said.We're going to look at the film, learn from it and move on.''
Running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who is recovering from foot surgery, carried five times for 12 yards. Of course, with the teams doing no tackling, those numbers could be somewhat skewed.
MJD said his foot felt fine, adding that the real test will come in next week's preseason opener against Miami.
``I just want to get out there and get tackled once or twice before it's the regular season,'' he said.
