Jacksonville Jaguars: Can Gardner Minshew keep it up?

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost Nick Foles to injury in week one, but Gardner Minshew was impressive in relief. Can he keep it up?

A year ago, Gardner Minshew was getting a bunch of Heisman hype as the quarterback of the upstart Washington State Cougars.

One year later, he’s answering questions as to whether he can hang with NFL athletes, if even just for one game in relief of Nick Foles.

Foles went down for the Jaguars with an injury in their first game of the season, and Minshew came in against reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs and did an incredible job.

Although he never really had the Jaguars ‘in’ the game, Minshew was dialed in as a passer, complexing 22-of-25 pass attempts, good for an 88 percent completion percentage with two touchdowns and one interception.

It wasn’t like Minshew was just dinking and dunking down the field, either. He was taking shots, reading the whole field, going through progressions, and making smart decisions with the football.

What Minshew did in this game was really great work, but is there evidence to believe he can keep it up going forward for the Jaguars?

I think so.

Averaging 11.0 yards per attempt, Minshew proved himself capable of getting the ball downfield as well as fitting the ball into tight windows.

The Chiefs, playing with a big lead against a run-oriented team, were able to pin their ears back against Minshew and he was exploiting their stacked boxes with tight window throws and deep shots where they had no safety help, among other things.

Playing in the Mike Leach offense at Washington State really helped Minshew in reading all areas of the field, whether they were using a quick-strike passing game or pushing the ball downfield.

The Jaguars took Minshew in the sixth-round of the 2019 NFL Draft, but he’s proving to be a bit of a steal already, winning their backup job out of camp. The Jaguars showed their faith in him by keeping him as the primary backup despite the fact that this situation could arise, even as soon as week one.

Minshew answered the call and bought himself some time.

This is a young football player who, once a transfer from East Carolina, has set an example of what it looks like to be confident and comfortable in your own skin. In addition to being fun to watch, Minshew has been fun to follow.

He had everyone — including Mike Leach — wearing fake mustaches last year at Washington State.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1061414327398338570

He may be a rookie in the NFL, but if you’re getting the primary backup role on an NFL team run by Tom Coughlin, a team with high expectations considering their investment in Nick Foles.

Their belief in Minshew is evident. Minshew’s belief in himself has never been in question.

Now he has a game’s worth of proof that he can play among the best of the best in the world. He may not be setting rookie passing records, but Minshew is capable of keeping the ship afloat in Jacksonville.

His next task is going on the road to face the Houston Texans, a critical early-season divisional matchup where his team will almost certainly be underdogs.