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Head coach Jack Del Rio made that announcement Thursday, speaking from Indianapolis, where he is attending the NFL Scouting Combine.

"[Personnel director James Harris] and his staff and me and my staff, including the new coaches, have completed our evaluation processes and, in our minds, there's a confirmation and consensus that Byron Leftwich is our starting quarterback going forward," Del Rio said.

"When you evaluate Byron and stack him up against the rest of the league, he's one of the young, really good, strong-armed quarterbacks out there," Del Rio further explained. "He's had some developmental setbacks the last two years because of injuries.

"Now, we've got to do things to keep him on the field. ... But we really feel he's ready to take the next step and take it to the next level."

In 46 career appearances, all but two as a starter, Leftwich has completed 789 of 1,344 passes for 9,042 yards, with 51 touchdown passes and 36 interceptions, for an efficiency rating of 80.5.

According to the Sports Xchange, Leftwich, who started the first six games, was irate last season when Del Rio benched him after he struggled in a loss in Houston when he played on a sore ankle. Leftwich said he could have played on the sore ankle, but Del Rio decided to bench him for David Garrard.

Leftwich eventually had ankle surgery and was placed on injured reserve.

When Garrard failed to lead the team to the playoffs and was then benched in the second half of the final game, the Jaguars were left with an unsettled quarterback situation.

That's obviously changed. And the coach said he has communicated that decision to Leftwich.

"I have. We've spoken. I talked to him the week after the Super Bowl. We spent three hours talking," Del Rio said. "When you lose your starting quarterback, it puts your head coach into an awkward situation. There were some awkward situations we potentially could've handled better. ...

"The bottom line is there's a need to work on the relationship, and I'm aware of that."

In addition to confirming that Leftwich will be the team's starting quarterback going into training camp, Del Rio said that Garrard and Quinn Gray would be retained. He also said the team would not attempt to sign a quarterback in free agency.

Del Rio said after the season that he wanted to take time to evaluate Leftwich, Garrard and Gray before deciding who would be his quarterback in 2007.

The two men might not be content with Del Rio's decision. Both were under the impression they would be given a shot at the starting job for next season.

But Del Rio said he expected them to accept their backup roles.

"David has proven he's very capable of winning in this league," Del Rio said. "It's not all he hoped it would be, but he's always had a professional approach that has allowed us to win, and I would hope he would have the same approach now. ..."

Meanwhile, staff changes made shortly after the season could help all three quarterbacks.

As Associated Press sports writer Mark Long reminded readers, Del Rio fired five assistants two days after the Jaguars finished 8-8, including offensive coordinator Carl Smith, quarterbacks coach Ken Anderson and receivers coach Steve Walters.

He hired former Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter as offensive coordinator, former Alabama coach Mike Shula as quarterbacks coach and Todd Monken as receivers coach.

The Xchange reports that Leftwich met recently with Koetter to discuss philosophies and potential design changes.

According to Florida Times-Union staffer Michael C. Wright, Koetter favors the vertical passing game, which caters to Leftwich, who has the strongest arm of the club's QBs. Leftwich's lack of mobility shouldn't be much of a factor either because of the club's strong ground game and improved O-line.

Wright further noted that "integrity" is the word most often used by players when discussing Shula. That personality trait could make Shula an ideal fit to navigate the delicate quarterback situation.

A former quarterback and college head coach, Shula understands the highs and lows of the position and likely will be resistant to making knee-jerk decisions based on one or two sub-par performances. ...

It's probably worth noting that Leftwich, 27, is entering the final season of his original rookie contract and is due a base salary of $5.2 million for 2007.

According to ESPN.com insider Len Pasquarelli, there have been no substantive discussions regarding an extension, but the track record of agent Tom Condon suggests he will want to address that issue with Jacksonville officials.

Condon has rarely permitted a high-profile client such as Leftwich to enter a lame-duck season on his contract.

This could be interesting. The Jaguars willingness to talk about an extension -- or the lack of same -- might offer more insight into just how committed they are to truly making Leftwich their quarterback of the future.