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In the days leading to his first NFL career start, Quinn Gray turned to his Jacksonville Jaguars teammates for added motivation and direction. And they in turn fed him the gospel of... Byron Leftwich.
"He's like man, tell Quinn to just chill out and sling the ball like he knows how to sling it," Jacksonville star running back Fred Taylor said of his heart-to-heart briefing with the Jags former star signal caller. “Don't be timid with it, just go out and sling it.”
And sling it Gray did in leading the Jaguars (5-2) past the Bucs 24-23 in Tampa Bay on Sunday. Well, okay, maybe he didn't quite sling it, but Gray certainly wasn't timid either in helping Jacksonville keep pace with the Indianapolis Cots in the rough-and-tough AFC South.
Gray's biggest contribution came midway through the fourth quarter when he hit wideout Matt Jones with an eight yard spiral, giving Jacksonville its first lead since early in the second quarter. “Obviously we did things to minimize the burden that was going to be placed on him, knew that we wanted to play to our defense and run the ball,” said Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio. “The best thing about his performance is he’s 1-0.” That may all be true, but just as poignant is the fact that on the Jaguars most critical possession it was Gray whose foot was on the pedal. Gray's eight play, 53 yard drive, culminating in Jones' game-winning touchdown, made the difference. On a critical third and six play, he hit Ernest Wilford on a 13-yard strike that enabled the Jags to maintain the momentum. “Someone is always going to doubt you regardless of who you are or what you do,” Gray told the Miami Herald. “I'm quite certain there are people who doubt Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Somebody is going to doubt that one of them is going to lose next week, but somebody's got to lose. I've been doubted all my career through college.” But all that could soon change. All it'll take is a few more clutch performances like in Tampa Bay.
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