Jaguars to bring in competition for Blaine Gabbert

Blaine Gabbert struggled in 2012 before being placed on IR after injuring his right forearm. (USATSI)

Jacksonville Jaguars new general manager David Caldwell said Monday at the NFL combine that the plans to bring in some competition for quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who is heading into his third year with the Jags.

The Jags have Gabbert and Chad Henne on the roster. Caldwell said the team plans to add at least one more quarterback, and that Gabbert won't have a leg up at the start of camp.

"Let's not forget about Chad Henne, who has started a lot of games in the NFL. [Henne is] a very capable quarterback," Caldwell told NFL Network's Greg Rosenthal. "We'll at least add one more, whether it's through draft or college free agency, or however we acquire one, and possibly two.

"It's going to be a wide-open competition."

Gabbert struggled in 2012 before being placed on injured reserve after injuring his right forearm. But Henne was poised to overtake Gabbert as the starter even before the severity of his injury was revealed. In 10 games as starter, Gabbert threw for 1,662 yards, with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. By comparison, Henne threw for more than 2,000 yards in just six starts, with 11 scores and 11 picks.

Now it appears the two will battle for the starting spot against a to-be-named player or two.

It will be interesting to see where the Jags look for quarterback help because one of their assistants said a couple of weeks back that Gabbert would be the top quarterback taken in this draft. Caldwell backed off those comments somewhat, but he did have some glowing things to say about the former first-round pick.

"There are some really good things to get excited about with Blaine, in terms of his arm strength, his size, his athleticism," Caldwell said. "There are things that we're excited about."

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