Last month, Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew was cleared to return to the field after dealing with a thumb injury. Minshew injured his thumb against the Texans in Week 5 but hid it from the team until after their loss to the Chargers in Week 7.
The second-year quarterback has not been on the field since.
“It’s so frustrating,” Minshew told ESPN’s Mike DiRocco. “I pretty much went and begged before the Cleveland game to be able to play. It sucks, you know, There’s no way around it.
Rookie quarterback Jake Luton started three games during Minshew’s absence; Mike Glennon would start the next two, including the team’s 27-24 loss to Minnesota on Sunday.
On Monday, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone addressed Minshew’s situation, and according to Marrone, whose team host the Titans on Sunday, the 30-year-old Glennon gives Jacksonville the best chance to win.
“We talked today, and just like I told him, I just want to see more at practice,” Marrone said. “I think he’s working on his volume and the amount of throws and all of that. He’s obviously cleared medically, but still, you want to be able to see those things on the practice field. I just think right now, in practice, Mike [Glennon] is throwing better and giving us the best chance to win. I don’t think Gardner [Minshew II] ‘s 100 percent as far as his workload, and that’s always [of] concern to me. I’m trying to understand it, and we’re both trying to work through it.”
During this time, according to Marrone, he and Minshew have been in constant communication.
“We’ve been having a lot of conversations, so it’s not a problem at all,” Marrone said. “I mean whatever he feels he can do, what’s best for the team, he’ll do. He’s said that quite a bit, so I don’t see a problem there. The communication’s been fine. I think everything’s been upfront, everything’s been talked about, so I feel comfortable with that. I think he’s trying to do everything he can to get himself back to a point where he feels comfortable, and his workload is right.”
Minshew wants to prove that he can be a starting quarterback in the NFL, so you can understand his desire to want to get back on the field, but with only four games left, there is a chance that he does not play another down this season, especially if Glennon plays well.
However, the Jaguars(1-11) are on an 11-game losing streak, and they will have a hard time winning another game, so we will probably see Minshew at some point again in the next four games. In seven games, the 24-year-old Minshew threw 1855 yards with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions, so his numbers aren’t bad.
However, there’s a good chance that Minshew won’t be in Jacksonville next season. At this point, Jacksonville has the second-worst record in football, and if things go their way, maybe the Jaguars will be in line to draft Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence or even Ohio State’s Justin Fields.
Next season, the Jaguars will have a new GM after firing Dave Caldwell last month, probably a new coach, and probably a new quarterback.
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