JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The last thing David Garrard needs for Christmas is a memory pill. The Jacksonville Jaguars are already in playoff mode, and their quarterback is trying to forget.

Garrard’s four turnovers, with three returned for touchdowns, fueled Tennessee’s 24-17 victory over the Jags last Sunday.

It was his worst day as a professional, one that caused a loss on a day his team was otherwise dominant.

“I always like to say however your last performance was, good or bad, it’s how you respond to it,” Garrard said. “It’s going to be a test for me because I’ve never really played (that) bad. It can be tough in the beginning, but you really do have to be a professional and you really do have to have a short memory.”

So?

“Last week is way behind me. I used the Men In Black button: “What happened last week?”‘ he said.

Garrard, a fifth-year pro from East Carolina, has alternately sparked the Jags and their opponents. One of his turnovers against Tennessee was a fumble, and it followed a 9-yard scramble in the Titans’ red zone. Two weeks before, he scrambled 16 yards on a fourth-and-14 in the red zone at Buffalo, setting up a touchdown pass that sent the game to overtime.

The education of a veteran but still-inexperienced quarterback continues Sunday against New England (10-4) at Alltel Stadium. It’s a high-wire act with no net: If the Jags (8-6) can beat the Patriots and Kansas City on Dec. 31, they’ll make the playoffs. If they lose once, they’ll need a heap of help for a return playoff ticket. Lose twice and they’re done.

New England can clinch the AFC East with a win Sunday.

For now, Garrard’s primary goal is to cut his mistakes, protecting the ball better on runs, being more accurate on throws. He has no plans to change his style. He’s going to try to create plays.

“I’m going to keep playing ball,” he said. “I don’t know any other way.”

A career backup – first to Mark Brunell, then Byron Leftwich – Garrard pushed the Jags into the playoffs a year ago when he engineered four victories in five games after Leftwich broke a bone in his ankle.

In the wake of another ankle injury to Leftwich, Garrard is 5-3 this season as the starter on a roller-coaster-like existence. He has eight touchdown passes and eight interceptions. Just like the Jags overall, it seems there’s little middle ground with Garrard.

“We want to find the ground with the really good,” Jags Coach Jack Del Rio said. “I don’t think it’s unusual for a quarterback to have a bad day. You’d be hard-pressed to find a quarterback, any quarterback, in the league that didn’t have one.

“(But) if you’re going to remain the quarterback, it’s important that you don’t put those games back to back to back. Then you don’t win. . . . I believe David will play well for us and will continue to help us win.”

Garrard might have fewer weapons Sunday. Leading rusher Fred Taylor is nursing a strained right hamstring, did not practice Wednesday and is listed as questionable. Rookie sparkplug Maurice Jones-Drew also is banged up. LaBrandon Toefield is next in line.

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(c) 2006, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).

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Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

AP-NY-12-20-06 1946EST