From The Sideline
Pre-Season Three Months Away
Pre-Season Three Months Away
By BRANDON FINLEY
The countdown has been on for quite some time, but the pre-season is officially less than three months away. The Jaguars will take the field to square off against the Vick-less Atlanta Falcons and their first round pick, Matt Ryan.
While Ryan may be the most closely looked at quarterback of the game, no quarterback will be under more pressure than David Garrard this season. There will be others that are looked at. Aaron Rodgers will probably be scrutinized from day one in Green Bay. There will be others that are put under a microscope, but none like Garrard will be.
That's because Garrard was rewarded with a nice new contract during the off season, and the Jaguars will expect him to play like the money they paid him.
It was all easy last year when there was no pressure in replacing Byron Leftwhich. The Jaguars knew what they had in Leftwhich, and any change would have been considered for the best. The franchise was simply tired of wasting time on Leftwhich.
Now they've invested money in Garrard, and he better be in place to make them look like geniuses. Make no mistake; Garrard was at times lucky last season.
Sure, he didn't make many mistakes, but there were countless numbers of times when the other team simply dropped the interception. If those breaks go another way this year, how will the Jaguars feel about this quarterback?
The time is now for Jacksonville. The Jaguars are a team of veterans that have a chance to win the Super Bowl this year. They've done the things they think are vital to improve their team, and it was a team that was already competitive with the, at one point, undefeated New England Patriots.
That's what the Jaguars have looked to do in the off-season. They tried to Brady and Manning proof their teams. They know what they're going after, but will their quarterback get them there?
