JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – The Jacksonville Jaguars’ locker room should be a very interesting place for the next year.

Mark Brunell took the field Friday for minicamp, fresh off a meeting in which owner Wayne Weaver told him 2003 will almost certainly be his final season with the Jaguars.

Joining Brunell was his designated successor at quarterback, first-round draft pick Byron Leftwich. In political parlance, Brunell is a lame duck. In football terms, the whole thing looks like a mess.

“I wasn’t doing backflips on draft day, I’ll tell you that,” Brunell said. “It’s something I’m going to have to deal with.”

Brunell has two years left on his contract. When he met with Weaver this week, he was offered a contract extension that didn’t include a signing bonus. Brunell said that when he refused to sign it, Weaver told him he would remain Jacksonville’s quarterback for this season, but the team would not be able to keep him next year.

Weaver, who encouraged the Leftwich pick, was miffed that Brunell went public about the meeting. “I have a lot of conversations with players, and I’d like to keep them confidential,” he said.

Leftwich’s performance was predictably uneven in his first NFL practice. He dropped his first snap. He was methodical throwing the ball. A product of an offense that made heavy use of the shotgun formation at Marshall, he clearly needs work on his drop.

He said Brunell was perfectly nice to him, and he has bigger things to worry about than the brewing controversy.

“I know the kind of guy Mark is, and he proved what a good guy he is here on Day 1,” Leftwich said.

“I’ve already seen it out there.”

Lost in the shuffle is David Garrard, a fourth-round draft pick last year who was supposed to be the quarterback of the future. Now, he’s headed for third string, fighting for his job.

“I’ve just got to go out there and play hard and see what happens,” Garrard said.

Rookie coach Jack Del Rio said he was prepared to handle the delicate situation.

“There are a lot of different things that can take away from your attention,” Del Rio said. “This happens to be the first of ’03.”

A few options exist.

The Jaguars could trade Brunell, which is unlikely given his $8.75 million salary cap figure. Or, they could cut him after June 1 and commit to a full-fledged season of rebuilding with Leftwich and Garrard.

What won’t happen, Brunell promises, is he won’t hold out or give less than 100 percent. “I’m not going to be a malcontent or have a bad attitude,” he said.

He said he’ll work with Leftwich, the way he’s worked with all the quarterbacks who have come and gone in his eight years with the Jaguars.

But that doesn’t mean he’s happy.

Brunell is 19-27 as a starter over the last three seasons and was usually miserable with the former coach, Tom Coughlin. Still, because he liked Jacksonville so much, he took less money in a contract negotiation a few years ago to stay with the Jaguars.

When Coughlin was fired and Del Rio hired, Brunell said he felt refreshed – like he was getting a new chance.

Now, he might be longing for the old days – when at least the coach he didn’t really like never tried to run him out of town. He always wanted to end his career in Jacksonville, but now he’s realizing it probably won’t happen.

“I’m worried about 2003,” he said. “When that’s over, we’ll see what happens and what opportunities are out there.”

AP-ES-05-02-03 1506EDT