Doug Marrone Rules Out Gardner Minshew in Week 9, Opens Door for Jake Luton to Start

Week 9 will be a strange one for the Jacksonville Jaguars. After all, for the first time since the Jaguars drafted Gardner Minshew in 2019, the mustached signal-caller won't be active on a game day.

Head coach Doug Marrone confirmed Monday that Minshew would be inactive when the Jaguars (1-6) host the Houston Texans (1-6) in Week 9 due to a thumb injury.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported during Jacksonville's bye last week that Minshew has fractures and a strained ligament in his throwing thumb. As a result of the injury, Jacksonville's starting passer will have to watch from the sidelines as the Jaguars try to find their second win of the season.

"So the plan is to try to get him back to 100% and I see him being inactive this weekend," Marrone said about Minshew's availability on Sunday.

Marrone said he first learned of an injury to Minshew's hand following the Week 7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. While there wasn't serious concern at first, further testing would show that he would need to heal before he plays. Marrone said Monday that he didn't have a timetable for Minshew's return.

"After we played the game (in Los Angeles), they said, you know, his thumb is sore or his thumb is hurt. So didn't really think much of it. Then the next day he came in and they said it was swollen and that they were going to get X-Rays, so that was Tuesday. And then Tuesday night we find out he has an injury to his right thumb," Marrone said.

Minshew has started 19 of the last 23 regular season games for the Jaguars, dating back to when he started 12 games as a rookie in place of an injured, and eventually benched, Nick Foles. Through seven games Minshew has completed 65.9% of his passes for 1,855 yards (6.9 yards per attempt) with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions.

With Minshew not an option on Sunday, the Jaguars will roll with either eighth-year journeyman Mike Glennon or sixth-round rookie quarterback Jake Luton at quarterback against Houston. The experience level of the two passers is vastly different, which is partially why it appears Marrone is ready to give Luton the keys to the offense in Week 9.

"I think both guys have to be ready, that is what I have told both players," Marrone said on Monday. "I feel like I have seen a lot of Mike. I haven't seen a lot of Jake. So I am going to go with Jake this week taking the [practice] reps and see how he does."

Glennon has 22 starts in his career and has played with Oakland (2019), Arizona (2018) and Chicago (2017) after beginning his career in Tampa Bay (2013-16), where he was originally drafted by the Buccaneers in the third round (73rd overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. He has completed 488-of-801 passes (60.9 completion %) for 5,163 yards and 36 touchdowns with 20 interceptions.

Selected in the sixth round with the No. 189 overall pick, Luton became the third quarterback in a row Jacksonville had selected in the sixth round, following Minshew and Tanner Lee. Luton threw 28 touchdowns and three interceptions as a senior at Oregon State last season while also completing 62% of his passes.

As of now, however, it looks like Marrone will give Luton the first crack at replacing Minshew for this week and potentially beyond if needed.

"We got a long way to go. It is going to start with these practices each day and preparation, all of that. I think we will all know it when we see it," Marrone said.

"Just go in there and see if he can operate and see how he plays against a live rush. I know how he plays without a live rush. He has done some good things. And I am sure there are going to be some things that he wants to take back, and you just hope that the good plays are good and the bad plays don't kill you."