Garrard Not Ready to Concede

The Jaguars have a 3-3 record through six games, and are a clearly a team that’s in a rebuilding mode. Jacksonville began the season in disappointing fashion dropping their first two games, and has since rebounded to win two out of their last three.

“We have to just stay the course,” Garrard told ESPN radio. “We knew that there would be a lot of people jumping off the bandwagon. The season is a long season, it’s not a sprint, it’s really a marathon.”

Quarterback David Garrard has been on the up and down roller coaster as he’s been both spectacular and terrible through the first six weeks, but he believes that the team is in good shape.

“If we can just start getting some wins under our belt, we’ll get into a rhythm,” Garrard said of the team’s slow start. “We’ve got a lot of new faces and it takes a little bit of time for a team to gel.”

Jaguars fan support has been down this year as the team has problems filling the seats. The Jaguars are one of the worst franchises in terms of ticket sales in the league, and that always seems to trigger talks about the team relocating.

David Garrard understands the fan’s plight and believes that they will be back.

“I understand when you get disappointed in your team, but they never really jumped off the bandwagon,” Garrard said of Jaguars fans. “You really expect them to do well and then when we have a flat season like we did last year, you have to wait for them to do something before you really get back into it. When we’re winning ball games they’ll be right back there with us.”

Roughly a month ago, Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver was asked about the possibility of his franchise drafting local legend and University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. Many, along with the Jaguars current starting quarterback believe that Tebow would help with the ticket sales issue.

“I really didn’t worry about it too much,” Garrard told ESPN when asked about his initial thoughts of Weaver’s statement. “I know that Wayne thinks a lot about the economy and the way we aren’t able to sell out tickets and I think bringing Tim Tebow would be good for the organization because he has a lot of followers.

“Just having him here would sell another few thousand tickets I’m sure.”

A few thousand tickets may not financially justify using a first-round pick on a guy who many feel will be a project.

Garrard isn’t a talent scout, but he is a guy who has struggled through the stigma of being a run-first quarterback and being forced to sit for many years before earning a starting job. Garrard shared some thoughts on Tebow—

“He’s a bright kid, I know he’s going to work at it. He’s got a lot of potential to do a lot of things on the football field and he can do a lot of things wherever he’s at.”

The wherever he’s at part of Garrard’s statement appears to be somewhat of a back-handed compliment, as Tebow believes that a position switch is not in store for him on the next level.

Garrard explains why Tebow won’t be ready to immediately step in and play.

“I think he has a lot of potential, but I think he’s a lot like me in which I think he’ll have to sit for a little bit for him to understand the nuances of the position,” the Jaguars signal caller told ESPN. “Being a professional quarterback is tough, it’s different. He hasn’t been under center since high school and to go that long without taking a snap under center, you have a lot to develop.”

Garrard hinted about Tebow not being a full-time quarterback once again—

“Tim is a guy that wants to play quarterback and he has a lot of potential at quarterback, and I can see an owner and a head coach trying to play him at any kind of spot. I know he’s a guy like me who will want to play quarterback but he’s going to want to see the field too.”

It appears that David Garrard and the Jaguars have some good things in store for their fans, even if many of them aren’t rushing through the turnstiles. He’s also not ready to step aside from his role as Jaguars starting quarterback, even if it is for a local icon.