Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians has anointed quarterback Blaine Gabbert to be Tom Brady’s backup for the 2020 season, despite Ryan Griffin occupying that role last year behind former starter Jameis Winston.

The reason why Gabbert got the nod over Griffin?

Gabbert lost that battle in last year’s training camp due to injury – not performance, as he suffered a separated shoulder on a quarterback scramble in the Bucs’ preseason game against Cleveland last year.

Bucs QB Blaine Gabbert – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“He was having a great camp last year when he got injured,” Arians said. “He played really well for us in Arizona. When we called on him, he beat two playoff teams that year. It’s really his third year [in our offensive system] because I haven’t gone anywhere, but he’s a very, very solid guy that can make every single throw.”

“We have a lot of faith in Griff also, but Blaine knows this offense inside out. He’s pretty much entrenched in it.”

Now healthy after shoulder surgery last fall, Gabbert has looked good operating the No. 2 offense in practice, and has also spent time helping tutor Brady and get him up to speed in Arians’ offense.

“It’s been close to a year not playing ball, so there is going to be some rust early on,” Gabbert said. “Just seeing coverages and seeing things, but it’s come back slowly but surely, and the more reps you get the more comfortable you are.

“I just try to put my best foot forward every day. Anything I can do to help the football team, to help Tom and our quarterback room – that’s what my job description is. I’m ready and willing if my number is called – to get ready to go. At the same time, my job right now is to help Tom get ready to beat New Orleans.”

Bucs QB Blaine Gabbert – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Gabbert said that being away from football for nearly a year with his injured reserve status last season followed by the cancellation of the Bucs’ 2020 offseason due to COVID-19 pandemic was a personal struggle for the 10-year veteran.

“It was tough,” Gabbert said. “I knew right away when it happened that it was bad. I had done that before, but this one just didn’t go back in my socket as easily as before this time. It was tough. I needed to get operated on. That was inevitable, but it was the right decision. I had to get it fixed for my health and I’m ready to roll this year. I feel great. I’m back to 100 percent and it’s stronger than ever.”

Gabbert loves collaborating with Brady, who is entering his 21st year in the NFL, in the QB room, and the relationship that the two signal callers have forged together this summer.

“It’s been wonderful,” Gabbert said. “Tom is a great guy on and off the field. It’s been a collaborative effort in the meeting room with myself, Byron [Leftwich], Clyde [Christensen], Griff – all of us in there just kind of working as one, really talking through things and how we see it. It’s been great so far. If he has any questions we’re there to answer them because we’ve been in this system a little longer than he has, but he’s the greatest of all time for a reason.”

Because of his experience in Arians’ offense dating back to the 2017 season in Arizona, Gabbert knows the playbook better than Brady does and will continue to help Tampa Bay’s new starter learn the system and prepare for the Bucs’ season opener at New Orleans on September 13.

Bucs QBs Tom Brady and Blaine Gabbert – Photo by: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

“Anytime you have to learn a new system it’s tough, and it’s harder when you are in a condensed offseason, a condensed training camp – getting ready to go [for] Week 1,” Gabbert said. “The thing that helped us is that we did a great job all summer getting our workouts in, being on Zoom meeting calls, really going through the system and installing it more than once, so when we got to training camp we installed it again and again and again. This is the third, fourth and fifth time we’ve been through our install package now and it becomes second nature. But in the early stages it’s tough. As B.A. (Bruce Arians) always says, you’re missing the reps in OTAs and mini-camp. We’re just trying to catch up on lost time.”

Gabbert, the Jaguars’ first-round draft pick in 2011, has seen his NFL career flounder over the last decade, completing just 56.2 percent of his passes for 9,063 yards with 48 touchdowns and 47 interceptions with stops in Jacksonville (2011-13), San Francisco (2014-16), Arizona (2017) and Tennessee (2018) before signing with Tampa Bay at Arians’ insistence in 2019. Arians believes that continuity in his system could help the 30-year quarterback find success later in his career.

“Early in his career I think he had four head coaches and seven offensive coordinators in seven years,” Arians noted. “That’s not a good recipe for success for a quarterback. He knows where the ball is going every time and why it’s going there. … He’s got a great arm and he’s very athletic.”

Bucs QB Blaine Gabbert – Photo by: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Gabbert’s knowledge of Arians’ offense will serve him and the team well, whether it’s helping Brady pick up the nuances of the system, or by stepping in under center if something happens to Brady during the season.

When asked about whether he will be sequestered away from Brady and the team in case Brady is ruled ineligible for any games this season due to a positive COVID test, Gabbert said: “No, we have not gone over any of those scenarios.”

That may be the only thing Gabbert doesn’t know at this point.