Jaguars QB Byron Leftwich Out

Jacksonville Jaguar's Quarterback Byron Leftwich will be sidelined at least a month with a broken ankle. Byron suffered the injury on the first passing play of the game today v.s the Arizona Cardinals. "He's got a crack in the ankle," coach Jack Del Rio said after his team's 24-17 victory. "The best-case scenario is about a month out, depending on how quickly he heals, and it could be worse. We just won't know until we see how the injury heals."

Byron is very injury prone and us Jaguar fans have come to expect him to miss some time during the season. Being a hard core Jag fan, the news of Leftwich's injury does not bother me. The Jags have a gem in back-up quarter back David Garrard. The rest of the nation doesn't know much about him, but Garrard could be starter for probably 6 teams in the NFL right now. Garrard weighs in at about 240 and 6'2 and about 4% body fat. The man is all muscle. He is fast and has a cannon for an arm. Tom Coughlin drafted him to be Brunell's replacement, but when T.C. was fired, Garrard was moved to the bench.

Leftwich has been average this year with roughly a 89 QB rating. He did score 7 touchdowns in his two games prior today and was finally starting to show signs of greatness. The injury he suffered today would likely sideline a normal QB for a year, but Leftwich is the toughest quarterback in the NFL and might be able to come back quicker. An ideal scenario would be Leftwich coming back in time for the playoffs.

Gerrard played well today for someone with little NFL Starting experience. He ended the day 12 of 26 with 115 yards passing and 61 yards on the ground with 1 touchdown. But most importantly, he did not turn the ball over and was not sacked. That's the beauty of having a mobile quarter back, something the Jags haven't had since Brunell's early days. Garrard has the ability to get out of the pocket and throw on the run. A roll out was never in the playbook with Leftwich taking the snaps.

The Jaguars have a very easy schedule remaining and should be able to secure a Wild Card birth without Leftwich. The Jags still face Cleveland, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Houston, and Tennessee. All remaining jaguar games are winable. The Jags had high hopes of dethroning the Colts as the last remaining undefeated team, but with the injury to Leftwich that might not happen.

But like I said earlier, Jaguar fans should not be bummed about the news. Garrard is more than capable to lead this team. He showed signs of what he can do with a 16 yard touchdown run on the opening drive. With Fred Taylor hopefully returning next week, the Jaguars should be OK as they focus more on the running game. I will still predict the Jags to drop 2 of our remaining 5 games ended the season with an 11-5 record and a Wild Card birth.