Bucs backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert hasn’t received much help this preseason. That trend continued on Saturday night, as Gabbert was sacked twice and intercepted once. Like most of Gabbert’s worst plays this preseason, the interception wasn’t his fault. In fact, head coach Bruce Arians said after the game that rookie wide receiver Jaelon Darden screwed up the route.

“We saw enough of Blaine,” Arians said. “They guys around Blaine were not playing very good. His interception was a perfectly thrown ball. He’s expecting his guy to break in, and [the receiver] broke up (the field). Just young guys playing.”

As Paul Atwal and I discussed on the Pewter Game Day Live Show, Darden should have read that the middle-of-the-field was open on this play and bent his route across the safety’s face. Instead Darden continued to push vertically, allowing the safety a clean shot at the ball.

After an impressive start to camp, Darden has had some struggles in preseason action. He’s dropped a few passes and messed up a couple routes. Darden’s natural ability has still been exciting to watch, but execution and football IQ are lacking. It remains to be seen if the fourth round pick will be active in Week 1.

As for Gabbert, Saturday night continued a preseason where he received little help from his supporting cast. Last week against Tennessee, Gabbert had three passes dropped and was sacked on a blown protection. In Houston Saturday night, Gabbert was the victim of a low snap that resulted in a safety, at least one drop and a few route-running errors. The Bucs backup quarterback wasn’t great against the Texans, but he was far from the biggest problem when on the field.