JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Don’t count Gardner Minshew out of the Jaguars plans just yet.
The Jaguars are almost universally expected to take Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the No. 1 overall draft pick next month, but that doesn’t mean that Jacksonville will totally move on from Minshew.
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Coach Urban Meyer said on Friday that the team hasn’t settled on anything involving the quarterback room right now. Meyer said that he loves that Minshew is a “competitive maniac,” and has enjoyed getting to know the third-year player.
“At this point, no [decision has been made]. At this point, I know Gardner [Minshew II] a little bit. He came in yesterday; we had a good visit. That’s the second time I spent time with him. This is all kind of new to me. I’m used to spending about five, six hours a day with our quarterback. January, February, that’s the days you get your quarterback ready to go. You can’t do that in the NFL.”
Earlier this week, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said that the Jaguars had received calls from other teams inquiring about Minshew.
Minshew is 7-13 as a starter with the Jaguars, including a 6-6 record as a sixth-round rookie in 2019. He’s passed for 5,530 yards, 37 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in two seasons with the team.
He replaced an injured Nick Foles one quarter into that season and went on to gain an almost cult-hero status in Jacksonville that season.
Minshew’s second year in the league failed to generate the same success. He was benched for rookie Jake Luton after concealing a hand injury and fell out of favor with the coaching staff as a result. The team started both Luton and veteran Mike Glennon before returning to Minshew out of necessity.
“There’s a lot of anticipation about the first pick. I understand there’s a lot of conversation out there, but there’s been no decisions made. Gardner’s done some very good things here in Jacksonville and he’s a competitive maniac, which I really appreciate that about him,” Meyer said.
“So, there’s been no decisions made. Yesterday was the first lengthy meeting we had and we’re going to continue that here for the next few weeks.”