GABBERT LEAVES GAME
For a second time in a month, the Jaguars finished a game without their starting quarterback.
Blaine Gabbert, the Jaguars' starting quarterback for the last 23 games, aggravated a left shoulder injury in the fourth quarter of a 27-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday. He left the game and did not return.
Gabbert appeared to try to re-enter the game, and was stopped by coaches.
"I just thought where we were with the score, with a guy who had just gotten injured, I didn't think it was worth the risk," Jaguars Head Coach Mike Mularkey said. "I didn't think it would have been very smart on our part to put him back out there."
Mularkey said he didn't know the extent of the injury after the game. Gabbert had sustained a shoulder injury against Oakland October 21. He left that game, and played the last two games after practicing throughout the week.
Gabbert, who said he reinjured the same area he injured against Oakland, said he hopes to play against Houston November 18.
"I'm going to do my best and be ready to roll," he said.
MULARKEY: "WE WILL BE DISCPLINED"
The Jaguars not only lost on Thursday, they seemed to lose their cool.
In a one-sided, prime-time loss to the Colts on Thursday, the Jaguars were penalized 10 times for 115 yards, with six of the penalties 15-yarders for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Mularkey, defensive tackle Terrance Knighton, safety Dawan Landry, offensive guard Mike Brewster, wide receiver Justin Blackmon and rookie defensive end Andre Branch were all called for unsportsmanlike conduct.
"I just said that to them, 'That's not going to be who we are,''' Mularkey said shortly after the game. "There's no way we're going to be that way. I have to see some of the things that occurred, but there's one thing we will not do and that's what took place with some of those personal fouls.
"We will not be that type of team. We will be a disciplined team. We will be a smart team. We will be a physical team, but we will not be that team that's going to have those personal fouls."
Mularkey drew an unsportsmanlike for throwing his play sheet after officials failed to reverse a 1-yard sneak by Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. Mularkey said he became upset with the official after he realized officials hadn't reversed the call.
"That's not a good thing for anybody," Mularkey said.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The play came too late to make a real impact, but as often has been the case this season, the Jaguars' biggest play came with Gabbert passing to Cecil Shorts. The Colts already led 24-3 early in the third quarter when the Jaguars faced 2nd-and-8 from their 18. Gabbert threw a short pass to his right, and Shorts turned it into a 52-yard gain to the Colts 30. The Jaguars went the opposite way after that, with Gabbert being sacked and a holding penalty pushing them to the Jaguars 49. The Jaguars eventually punted on 4th-and-31.
FIRST QUARTER
The Jaguars started slow for a second consecutive week, going three-and-out on the first two possessions. The Colts took advantage, with rookie quarterback Andrew Luck passing 18 yards to veteran wide receiver Reggie Wayne to set up a 31-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri. That was the only scoring of the quarter, as Indianapolis outgained the Jaguars, 89-62.
SECOND QUARTER
The Colts took the game's momentum, with Luck running for a pair of touchdowns. First, he capped an eight-play, 66-yard drive with a 5-yard rollout on the third play of the quarter. After Jaguars wide receiver Laurent Robinson lost a fumble, the Colts drove 61 yards on seven plays, with Luck sneaking over from the 1-yard line. The Colts had outgained the Jaguars 216-146 at halftime.
THIRD QUARTER
The Colts already had control of the game, and they essentially clinched it early in the third quarter. Gabbert threw to his right, and cornerback Darius Butler intercepted and strolled into the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. That made it 24-3, Colts.
FOURTH QUARTER
The Jaguars scored on their first series of the quarter, with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Chad Henne to Cecil Shorts making it 24-10 with 9:16 remaining. The Colts clinched the victory a series later when Vinatieri converted from 41 yards with 3:23 remaining.
MULARKEY SAYS
"If they play with that kind of effort, and we learn not to make some of the mistakes, we have a chance to win. If they don't do that, we're not going to give ourselves a chance. What we're doing, the preparation, the focus – that can't change. And it won't change."
GABBERT SAYS
"You never want to lose a football game. We're pretty ticked off. We just got to keep fighting, keep working at it and turn it around. I can't say anything up here to fix our record, to fix our loss tonight, it's just up to us to focus throughout the week, keep working hard, keep chipping away and turn it around ourselves."
WR CECIL SHORTS SAYS
"It's like I said before: the most important stat is getting that 'W.' I thought we had a good game plan coming in, but it didn't work out our way. We are doing things to not make plays rather than doing things to make plays."
STAT OF THE GAME
The Jaguars went 1 of 10 on third downs against the Colts. Five of the third downs not converted were eight yards or more, including a 3rd-and-31. The Jaguars didn't convert a third down until the fourth quarter.
TURNING POINT
For the second consecutive game, it was really the entire first half. The Jaguars went three-and-out on their first two possessions, then despite moving on a few drives, couldn't finish. The Colts took advantage of the mistakes to take a 17-0 lead. At that time, the Jaguars had been outscored in the first half of their last two games, 38-0.
INJURY REPORT
Gabbert was the only injury reported by the Jaguars.
QUICK HITS
*Mularkey said he planned to run a play on 4th-and-4 from the Colts 17 with 21 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The Jaguars trailed 17-0 at the time, and conventional wisdom says to take the field goal there, but Mularkey said he wanted to give the Jaguars a spark. Gabbert was called for a false start, after which Scobee kicked a 40-yard field goal.
*Robinson's nine receptions were a career-high and he finished with 77 yards receiving. Shorts also caught six passes for 105 yards, finishing with his second career 100-yard game.
*Scobee's miss from 44 yards in the first quarter ended a streak of 20 consecutive field goals. Had he made the kick, he would have held the franchise record for consecutive field goals made.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Jaguars visit the Houston Texans Sunday.
END GAME
For the fifth consecutive home game, there wasn't much good to say following the loss to the Colts. The Jaguars are 1-8, their worst start in franchise history. They also have not yet been competitive in the fourth quarter of a home game. This looked like a frustrated team Thursday, with six unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and while frustration is logical, it's not a way to win. As has been the case all season, there too many mistakes and too many missed opportunities. The result was a sixth consecutive loss and a season that has gotten longer than anyone expected.
