Chiefs’ Minshew Ready to Write New Chapter in 3-Game Audition

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Think of Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes in F1, not Tyler Durden in Fight Club.

To finish their 2025 season, the Chiefs are getting a more experienced and mature version of Gardner Minshew. One of the more unique quarterbacks in recent NFL history, he isn’t the Minshew Mania cultural icon he was in his early career.

And, with three games remaining on the one-year contract he signed with the Chiefs, Minshew has inherited an audition for the same role next season: Backing up Patrick Mahomes.

Watch Gardner Minshew discuss below...

“I’ve got a ton of confidence in Gardner,” head coach Andy Reid said Monday afternoon. “I've watched him play with these other teams. He’s started in the league. Our guys have confidence in him.”

Their first opportunity to show that confidence is at Tennessee on Sunday (12 p.m. CT, CBS/KCTV, Channel 5, 96.5 The Fan). It’ll mark Minshew’s first start since Nov. 24, 2024, his final game in a Raiders uniform.

gardner minshe — Dec 29, 2019; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II (15) looks to pass during the fourth quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Douglas DeFelice-Imagn Images | Douglas DeFelice-Imagn Images

Mop-up snaps until Sunday

Minshew got garbage-time duty in two of the Chiefs’ most impressive wins this season, home victories over Baltimore and Las Vegas, but didn’t throw a pass until Sunday. After Mahomes left with a torn ACL, Minshew fired three quick completions and moved the Chiefs 22 yards closer to a potential game-tying field goal in the final minute.

Then, he fell victim to the same snake-bitten circumstances that plagued Mahomes. Minshew threw a game-ending interception inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, a pass intended for Travis Kelce. Derwin James happily stamped an exclamation point on the Chiefs’ flat-lined postseason hopes.

Still, Minshew said after the game he’s confident in his ability to stamp something positive on the end of a lost Kansas City season.

“Yeah, I feel comfortable,” said Minshew, who has an 88.2 passer rating in 62 career NFL games, with 46 starts. “I'll do whatever the coaches ask of me. We'll go try to win some games.”

Week 1 starter for two teams

A 6-1, 225-pound quarterback in his seventh year out of Washington State, Minshew has started at least two games in every season of his NFL career. He opened each of the last two seasons, 2023 and ’24, as the Week 1 starter in Indianapolis and Las Vegas, respectively.

In 2023, he led the Colts to wins in six of their final nine games but missed the playoffs with a 9-8 record. He still earned Pro Bowl honors. The following season, he was benched by the Raiders after a 2-7 start.

Minshew said he felt sick for Mahomes on Sunday, but still knew he had to do his job.

“I mean, that's kind of the job you're in,” Minshew explained after the game. “Unfortunately, for me to play, that's what happens. And you got to compartmentalize, obviously, get back to the locker room, and that's the most concerning thing. And just, yeah, wish the best for him.”

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