Blaine Gabbert's Footwork Already Improving

We all know one of the big issues with quarterback Blaine Gabbert is his footwork in the pocket. Gabbert doesn't always seem to set his feet when he throws, can take a bad stride, and/or doesn't keep his shoulders level. He's been working with the coaching staff this season on working out those kinks, because we've seen when he does it right he can make some great throws.

Gabbert has been drilling keeping his shoulders level in his drop back and throw. At times last year he would dip his shoulder when throwing the ball which effects accuracy. Gabbert has also seemed to already correct something in his stride, as noted by color analyst Jeff Lageman on Jaguars This Week Wednesday night.

Shockingly enough, Gabbert is improving as he has time to work on the mechanical flaws the coaches want fixed. Imagine that?

Paul Kuharksy of ESPN.com was able to talk to Jaguars offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski a bit about some of Gabbert's flaws and what they can correct.

"Fundamentally, there were some times last year in his drops when he was getting a little bit long with his footwork and getting a little too fast," Bratkowski told Kuharksy. "So what we've tried to do is get him to slow his feet down just a little bit, take shorter steps and stand taller in the pocket.

"Those are some things we identified when we first looked at him, and he's improving on those things out there right now. You can see him carrying it into the actual plays we're running in team situations."

Bratkowski worked heavily with former Cincinnati Bengals and now current Oakland Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer early in his development, and one of the big things they worked on was balance in the pocket. That seems to be an area Gabbert is already improving.

"The biggest thing all the quarterbacks are working on is just calming our feet down, staying in the pocket, not getting too long, not taking too long of a drop," Gabbert told Kuharksy.

Kuharsky also notes that the team was been replacing some of the 7-on-7 passing skeleton drills with team drills, so that Gabbert has to deal with the rush and arms around him as he's trying to throw the football.

You can read Paul Kuharsky's full report on Gabbert already improving on the ESPN AFC South Blog here. Coincidentally, he just happened to publish this as I was typing this up. I suggest reading it, because it's very good.