JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Blaine Gabbert doesn't expect to feel anything other than what he normally does on game day. No anger or resentment. No desire for revenge against the team that drafted him and then dumped him three years later.
Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars is just another game for the Arizona Cardinals quarterback, who will be making his second start of the season.
"That was so long ago. That was what, four, five years ago now," Gabbert said. "Yeah, I was drafted by them but a lot of time has passed. I've been on two different teams now since I've been there so I don't think the emotions will play a role in it."
You couldn't blame Gabbert if he did have some hard feelings about his time in Jacksonville. It was, as one of his former teammates put it, a nightmare situation. The Jaguars drafted him 10th overall in 2011 and he had three different head coaches in three years. He was thrust into the starting role as a rookie when he clearly wasn't ready. He didn't have a lot of talent surrounding him, either.
He also couldn't stay healthy. He missed games because of injuries to his shoulder, forearm (the final six games of the 2012 season), thumb, hamstring and a cut on his hand. He also battled an ankle injury during training camp this July and missed two games with a hamstring injury. He failed to finish six of his last 10 starts (including preseason) because of those injuries.
General manager Dave Caldwell, who was hired in January 2013, eventually traded Gabbert to San Francisco for a sixth-round pick in March 2014. Gabbert's final stats with the Jaguars were not pretty: 5-22 record as a starter, 22 touchdowns, 24 interceptions. Gabbert started 14 games with the 49ers over two seasons before signing with Arizona in May.
"It's good to see him have another opportunity because he obviously was put into a nightmare situation here," said linebacker Paul Posluszny, who joined the Jaguars as a free agent in 2011. "He had three head coaches in three years. That's not a successful situation for any quarterback, so it's good to see him have an opportunity to have success."
Gabbert started the season as the Cardinal's third-team quarterback behind Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton. Palmer suffered a broken arm on Oct. 22 and Stanton hurt his knee on Nov. 9, giving Gabbert his first start with the Cardinals on Nov. 19.
He said he's not the same person or quarterback now that he was in his three seasons with the Jaguars.
"I think just growing up, going through all the ups and downs as a young quarterback, things within your control, things out of your control, seeing how the NFL works, you learned a lot as a young player," Gabbert said. "I know I did coming out of there and then going to San Francisco and then here now. Really, just maturing as an athlete, it was extremely instrumental in that process. Things didn't work out there but I would say I made a lot of good friends and learned quite a bit.
"Hindsight's always 20-20. Leaving there opened doors in San Francisco and I'm here now and I really wouldn't change anything that happened along the way."