"If anyone knows exactly the career crossroad facing David Garrard this season, it's the 40-year-old New York Jets quarterback with graying whiskers who was in a similar position with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2003.

Mark Brunell couldn't keep his starting job. Despite three Pro Bowl appearances and leading the Jaguars to two AFC championship games, a new Jaguars regime wanted the rookie first-round draft pick, Byron Leftwich, to play over the proven veteran.

At age 33 — the same age Garrard is now — Brunell was pushed out the door and traded to the Washington Redskins. The Jaguars say publicly that they still believe in Garrard, but he knows NFL business dictates that quarterbacks don't stick around if their teams don't make the postseason.

Brunell was more of a shining star in Jacksonville, yet Garrard watched his former teammate get shoved aside for a younger, unproven quarterback after three consecutive non-playoff seasons. The Jaguars are on the same track with their current quarterback.

Even as Garrard comes off a team-record, 23-touchdown season, there's a similar feeling of uncertainty in the air about the franchise quarterback's future like there was eight years ago.

A lot will depend on how Garrard performs in 2011, provided NFL labor issues permit a season to happen, and whether the Jaguars draft a quarterback who can challenge him.

Brunell said the best way for Garrard to avoid his same fate with the Jaguars is to not worry about what the future holds.

"I would tell him just keep working, try to keep the distractions away," Brunell said Monday during his charity golf tournament benefiting his foundation and Wolfson's Children's Hospital at Sawgrass Country Club, where Garrard was one of the celebrity participants. "Just go try to win a championship. Do not let what's said about you or who's drafted [by the Jaguars] deter you from that."

There's been endless debate in this city about Garrard's future. The fan base stands divided between those believing he will never lead the Jaguars to prominence and those feeling the team hasn't surrounded him with enough talent."