JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Six weeks after breaking his collarbone in the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, Jaguars' quarterback Nick Foles will return to practice on Wednesday.
Foles is not eligible to play for the Jaguars until Week 10, but the Jaguars have a bye scheduled that week, so the earliest Foles could return to the lineup is Nov. 17 when the Jaguars travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts.
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During a teleconference with reporters on Monday, Jaguars' head coach Doug Marrone said that the Jaguars will work Foles back into the practice schedule slowly.
"We talked about it. My self, Nick, (offensive coordinator John DeFilippo), (quarterbacks coach Scott (Milanovich). We'll take him back. We've got time, so we'll just gradually get him back in there," Marrone said. "I want to make sure we're good with the reps and don't want to do too much too fast. We want to make sure that we don't want a lot of people around him."
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At some point, Marrone will have to make the decision to stick with Gardner Minshew as the starter or to hand the ball back to Foles when he is ready. By NFL rule, Foles can not return to game action until he has been on the injured reserve for eight weeks. Until then, the Jaguars will take a cautious approach.
"He'll probably throw scout team, 7-on-7, throw on the side, get himself ready and then get himself ready as we go," Marrone said.
Foles was injured 11 plays into the season when Kansas City defensive lineman Chris Jones fell on top of Foles after he released a pass that was caught by D.J. Chark in the end zone. After that, Minshew took over. The rookie from Washington State has thrown 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions and has won the AFC Rookie of the Week award four times.
In his most recent start, Minshew completed 15 of 32 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown as the Jaguars beat the Bengals in Cincinnati 27-27.
The Jaguars linebacker corps is also dealing with injuries. During the game in Cincinnati, Quincy Williams, Najee Good, D.J. Alexander and Leon Jacobs all left the game with injuries at some point. On Monday, the Jaguars promoted rookie linebacker Joe Giles-Harris from the practice squad. To make room for Giles-Harris, the team waived cornerback Parry Nickerson and also released quarterback Chase Litton from the practice squad.