Jaguars' Gardner Minshew Nominated for AFC Offensive Player of the Week

Following a dominant Week 1 performance, Minshew Mania is back in full swing.

Minshew Mania didn't leave after the 2019 season. Instead, it simply took a vacation, waiting until Sunday to get back to hitting on all cylinders. 

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II has been one of this offseason's most talked-about players throughout the entire league and it appears that won't be stopping anytime soon. After a dominant Week 1 performance in the Jaguars' 27-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts at home, Minshew has been nominated for AFC Offensive Player of the Week. 

QB @GardnerMinshew5 has been nominated for AFC Offensive POTW:
 
• Completed 19 of 20 passes (95%) for 173 yards, 3 TDs & 0 INTs -- passer rating of 142.3
 
• 1st ever with 3+ TD passes & 95.0+ completion % on Kickoff Weekend.
 
• @Jaguars completion % record (min. 5 attempts) pic.twitter.com/PJd2og6BHN

— Tad Dickman (@TDickman89) September 15, 2020

No Jaguars player has won this award since former running back Maurice Jones-Drew won it in Week 3 in 2009. 

Minshew is certainly deserving of the award after he had a flawless performance to kick off the season. Minshew completed 19-of-20 passes, giving him a franchise-record 95% completion rate. His lone incompletion? A Laviska Shenault drop that was a perfectly delivered pass. 

Minshew threw for 173 yards (8.7 yards per attempt) and three touchdowns, giving him six passing touchdowns in his last two games. By the end of the day, he finished with a passer rating of 142.3. Minshew was also credited with a game-winning drive after leading the Jaguars to a 22-yard touchdown pass to Keelan Cole to take a 24-20 lead in the fourth quarter. 

During Minshew's mistake-free day against the Colts, he also managed to never put the ball on the ground, displaying an improved sense of ball security after a rookie year in which he consistently fumbled the ball inside or outside of the pocket. 

"I mean, he works extremely hard. Like I said before, I don’t know what that personality stuff is that you guys keep talking about, I just know the guy comes in and works hard all the time," head coach Doug Marrone said during a Monday media conference. 

"I think he’s a guy that learns quite quickly. He’s going to continue. He’ll learn from this game, he always wants to get better, always wants to do better and he doesn’t want to let anyone down, his teammates down. I think that’s what makes him a great team player. So I mean, he’s worked hard this offseason, he’s worked hard in camp along with everybody else. So it’s not surprising to see the ball security and things of that nature or to see everyone working hard for each other and it’s something that we need to just continue to get better."