When Jacksonville Jaguars interim coach Mel Tucker called Blaine Gabbert “courageous” last week, Tucker lost credibility with regard to his public reviews of his rookie quarterback.

Monday, Tucker’s comments about Gabbert were more measured and more in line with the things I have been hearing from those who maintain it’s too soon to make any sort of final judgment about him.

“When he comes off the field and you ask him and his coaches ask him what he saw, he’s very, very accurate and I think that’s huge with a young player or any player,” Tucker said in comments to Jacksonville media on Monday. “When a player can come off the field and tell you exactly what he saw, what the defense was and why he did what he did, that’s a good sign.”

Moments are all we have in terms of seeing that for ourselves. On an early third-and-12 in Nashville Saturday, Gabbert took off running.

There was no real chance for him to reach the sticks, but I would have liked to have seen him do more — try more — than slide super early, settling for 4 yards.

Elsewhere, two plays in the game struck me as significant if we’re looking for reasons to maintain a degree of faith in Gabbert’s ability to improve as the Jaguars see a new owner take over and hire a new coach.

On a first-quarter third-and-6 from the Jaguars’ 22, he senses Dave Ball closing from his left, dipped and stepped forward with his eyes still downfield, squared his shoulders with another rusher coming hard from his right and hit Jarett Dillard for an 11-yard gain.

Gabbert had two opportunities to conclude the pocket was collapsing and the rush would get him but he kept trying to find something and connected on a conversion.

In desperation catch-up mode in the fourth quarter, with the Titans playing a bit softer as they tried to preserve a 23-10 lead, Gabbert took a shotgun snap on fourth-and-10 from the Tennessee 24. He moved right as Jurrell Casey dove for his ankles, then ran hard to keep Ball from getting him and threw to Dillard on the right sideline for a 21-yard gain.

Again, his head was up, he reacted fine to pressure and he found a play.

Those are just two snaps. They hardly wash away a poor rookie season during which he’s not played well on a team that hasn’t protected him consistently enough and which has horrible receivers.

But if you’re looking for hope that he can handle a rush, keep looking downfield and deliver a throw that can keep an offense moving, there are two plays you can point to.

Read More: Matt Hasselbeck (QB – TEN), Maurice Jones-Drew (RB – JAC), Blaine Gabbert (QB – JAC), Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars decided to defer in the first half, kicking off to the Tennessee Titans. The Jaguars nearly forced an early punt, but an illegal hands to the face penalty extended the drive before the Titans eventually punted to pin the Jaguars offense deep on the 1-yard line. The Jaguars went three and out on three straight running plays, the first way saw Maurice Jones-Drew limp off the sideline to miss the drive, but he did return to the game.

On the Titans next drive Matt Hasselbeck hit Jared Cook for an 18-yard play, but the drive stalled after that, forcing the Titans to kick a field goal to go up 3-0. The Jaguars once again went three and out, punting the ball right back to the Titans. It took just one play for the Titans to pick up a touchdown, as Hasselbeck once again went to Cook, this time for a 55-yard touchdown. Fortunately, the Jaguars were able to answer as rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert went 5 for 5 on the scoring drive that ended on a Jones-Drew touchdown.

For more on the Jaguars, please visit Big Cat Country, SB Nation’s Jaguars blog. For the perspective from the other side, please visit Music City Miracles, SB Nation’s Titans blog.

Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9) at Atlanta Falcons (8-5)

Thursday, 7:20 p.m., NFL Network

Series record: Jaguars lead 3-1

Last meeting: Jaguars beat Falcons 13-7, Sept. 16, 2007

Last week: Jaguars beat Buccaneers 41-14; Falcons beat Panthers 31-23

Streaks, stats and notes: Falcons one victory away from fourth straight winning season. Before 2008, Atlanta had never put together back-to-back winning records. … Atlanta Coach Mike Smith was defensive coordinator of Jaguars from 2003-07. … Jacksonville RB Maurice Jones-Drew leads NFL in rushing with 1,222 yards and set franchise record with four touchdowns (two running, two receiving) in last weekend’s rout of Tampa Bay. … Falcons WR Roddy White is 35 yards shy of fifth straight season with 1,000 yards receiving. … Jaguars rookie QB Blaine Gabbert is league’s lowest-rated passer (65.3), having completed barely half his throws with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions. … Atlanta likely to be short-handed in secondary. CB Brent Grimes (knee) and Kelvin Hayden (toe) did not practice during short week and both listed as doubtful.

Times-Picayune predictions:

John DeShazier, sports columnist: Falcons 28-13

Jeff Duncan, Saints columnist: Falcons 30-14

Nakia Hogan, NFL writer: Falcons 27-17

Doug Tatum, sports editor: Falcons 31-13

Mike Triplett, Saints beat writer: Falcons 27-16

James Varney, Saints beat writer: Falcons 24-17

JACKSONVILLE (4-9) AT ATLANTA (8-5)

Today, 8:20 p.m., NFL Network, WDAK-AM 540

OPENING LINE — Falcons by 10½

RECORD VS. SPREAD — Jacksonville 4-8-1; Atlanta 6-6-1

SERIES RECORD — Jaguars lead 3-1

LAST MEETING — Jaguars beat Falcons 13-7, Sept. 16, 2007

LAST WEEK — Jaguars beat Buccaneers 41-14; Falcons beat Panthers 31-23

JAGUARS OFFENSE — OVERALL (32), RUSH (10), PASS (32)

JAGUARS DEFENSE — OVERALL (4), RUSH (16), PASS (4)

FALCONS OFFENSE — OVERALL (13), RUSH (18), PASS (10)

FALCONS DEFENSE — OVERALL (14), RUSH (5), PASS (22)

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Falcons one victory away from fourth straight winning season. Before 2008, Atlanta had never put together back-to-back winning records. … Atlanta coach Mike Smith was defensive coordinator of Jaguars from 2003-07. … Jacksonville RB Maurice Jones-Drew leads NFL in rushing with 1,222 yards and set franchise record with four touchdowns (two running, two receiving) in last weekend’s rout of Tampa Bay. … Falcons WR Roddy White is 35 yards shy of fifth straight season with 1,000 yards receiving. … Despite signing DE Ray Edwards before season, Falcons tied for 24th in league with 25 sacks. … Atlanta QB Matt Ryan has put up passer efficiency rating higher than 110 in three of last four games. He also went past Chris Chandler for third place on team list for career yards passing with 13,353, trailing only Steve Bartkowski (23,470) and Chris Miller (14,066). … Jaguars rookie QB Blaine Gabbert is league’s lowest-rated passer (65.3). … Atlanta likely to be short-handed in secondary. CB Brent Grimes (knee) and Kelvin Hayden (toe) did not practice during short week and both listed as doubtful. … Jaguars have placed league-high 27 players on injured reserve. … Falcons RB Michael Turner has gone three straight games without rushing for 100 yards. Since joining Atlanta in 2008, he’s had only one stretch in which he went four games in a row without reaching triple figures.

– Associated Press