JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With Gardner Minshew dealing with a thumb injury, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said Monday that he will go with rookie Jake Luton as the team’s starting quarterback Sunday against the Houston Texans.
Minshew’s thumb will keep him out at least this week, but Marrone declined to say how long Minshew could be out, only saying that he would like to say that when Minshew was healthy he would regain his starting spot, but considering the Jaguars current situation and 1-6 record, he couldn’t commit to that.
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Luton, like Minshew, was a 6th round pick of the Jaguars. Unlike Minshew, Luton did not have the benefit of preseason games to get his feet underneath him in the preseason.
Despite, that, Marrone said that he is ready to “see what he has.”
“I feel I’ve seen a lot of Mike (Glennon) I haven’t seen a lot of Jake. I’m going to go with Jake this week taking the reps, see how he does,” Marrone said.
When asked if there was anything that he could see in practice that would cause Marrone to not start Luton, Marrone said, “I’ve watched him enough (in practice). We’re going to play him.”
While at Oregon State, Luton completed 62 percent of his passes and took very good care of the football. As a senior, he threw 28 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Avoiding turnovers will be key for Luton’s first test of his NFL career against the Houston Texans on Sunday.
The Texans are struggling. Like the Jaguars, they enter Sunday’s game with a 1-6 record. Their only win of the season came against the Jaguars on Oct. 11.
Luton will become the fifth quarterback to start a game for the Jaguars since Doug Marrone took over. Blake Bortles, Chad Henne, Nick Foles and Minshew have all started games since 2017.