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Blaine Gabbert will apparently face off against Mark Sanchez in what should be a hot ticket you can tell your grand-kids about.
In all seriousness, the Week 2 NFL preseason contest between the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets could yield as many new significant developments as any other game. While many of the best teams in the league feel totally confident in resting their very proven, slightly sore starters, these two teams have to figure out what gives them the best chance at winning in a number of places atop the depth chart.
And how these respective franchise crawl out of their hole — partially dug by the top-ten quarterbacks that have yet to pan out — all starts with the signal caller position. Gabbert’s absence for the final six games with a forearm injury only make him more difficult for Jacksonville to evaluate; making each preseason performance carry all the more weight.
“We feel like he needs the reps right now considering he missed six games last year at the end,” new Jaguars Coach Gus Bradley said, via The Associated Press. “He got 17 snaps in the opener, and we just felt like we’d like to increase it this week and get a better chance to evaluate where he’s at.”
Meanwhile, pressure will be equally high on Sanchez over on the other side, who has apparently earned the start despite his own diminishing returns.
“The main factors being Geno (Smith)’s situation, his ankle situation,” coach Rex Ryan said in a conference call. “And also the fact that Mark has practiced well. That’s really what kind of led to our decision.”
Thomas Emerick is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEmerick, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
