When the Kansas City Chiefs defense visited the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, there were questions about which quarterback they would face. Starter Blaine Gabbert was dealing with a fracture in his thumb and Chad Henne was on call in case he couldn’t go.
After an afternoon of getting knocked around, Gabbert — and his hand — may have been second-guessing the decision to play.
The Jags signal caller was sacked six times and was knocked out of the game with just 1:29 left in the fourth quarter following a four-yard scramble. He came to the sidelines holding his hand, but it turns out it was a new injury.
Gabbert’s hand was cut open and needed 15 stitches to close the wound.
“We will see how it is,” Gabbert told reporters after the game. “We will see how it is tomorrow. It’s another day-to-day thing and we will see how it is and move on.”
In addition to pulling himself off the ground most of the day, Gabbert also tossed two interceptions. The second was returned 10 yards for a touchdown by linebacker Tamba Hali, who seemed to be in disbelief just how easy his score was.
Gabbert, for his part, wasn’t ready to blame his bad performance on his thumb injury.
“It was fine. It is what it is. That’s not a crutch or an excuse or an explanation about why we didn’t perform to the level we wanted to today.”
The Chiefs will now face another quarterback dealing with an injury in Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys. Romo was hurt late in the first half of the Cowboys Sunday night victory over the New York Giants.
He missed the final play of the first half, but Romo was back out there after the break and wouldn’t leave the game again. Those sore ribs of his should be tested often by Justin Houston and the rest of the Kansas City defense.
