What Has Stood Out to Jaguars OC John DeFilippo About Gardner Minshew's Rookie Year?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As Gardner Minshew II's rookie season draws to a close ahead of Sunday's home game vs. the Indianapolis Colts, the 23-year old has already made quite an impression on people inside and outside of TIAA Bank Field.

Include his offensive coordinator John DeFilippo has one who has been impressed. This is notable not only because of DeFilippo's role with the Jaguars, but also for his past experience working with young quarterbacks such as Derek Carr, Carson Wentz, and Johnny Manziel.

“A lot of young guys with some of these longer play calls have a real hard time in the huddle. His huddle demeanor and presence is really, really, really good. He is one bright guy," DeFilippo said about Minshew during his Thursday press conference at TIAA Bank Field.

"I mean, he is off the charts bright. And his competitiveness is awesome. The kid loves to play football and I think it does, I think it rubs off on the other 10 guys in the huddle. Again, it’s like anything, we’ll go back, and watch all the tape, and there will be some good, some bad and some really good. That’s like with any rookie, so fortunately I’ve had a chance, an opportunity, to coach a lot of these young guys and Gardner’s done great.”

Minshew has already broken franchise rookie passing touchdown (18) and passing yards (2,976) records and has gone 5-6 as a starter after an unlikely path led to the 2019 sixth-round NFL Draft selection starting in Jacksonville.

He first started for Jacksonville from Weeks 2 through 9 after starting quarterback Nick Foles went down with a clavicle injury after 11 plays in Week 1. Minshew would once again be implemented as the starter in Week 14 after Foles had a few ineffective performances during a bad losing streak.

In that time, Minshew has shown a maturity beyond his years, DeFilippo said. While the offense has struggled with execution, it has not had some of the issues other rookie-led offenses have, such as delay of game penalties. Jacksonville doesn't have a single delay of game penalty this year, for context.

“Yeah. He does a great job. As soon as the play’s called, boom, he’s up and running," DeFilippo said. "That’s the thing you see sometimes with young quarterbacks is the huddle procedure can be a little sloppy at times. And it hasn’t been perfect all the time, but it’s been a lot better than some other times I’ve coached some young guys.”

Of course, Minshew still has a lot of room for improvement. The offense has yet to score more than a field goal in the first half of any of his last three starts and his completion percentage and yards per pass attempt figures have both dropped off compared to his first stint.

But that should be expected, DeFilippo said. No rookie is going to be a finished product at the end of Year 1. The hope is he can continue to use this year's experiences to grow.

“Oh, there’s no doubt. He can get better. Now, what’s going to happen in the future, that would be hypothetical for me to answer," DeFilippo said. "All I know is this; Gardner has a lot of room for improvement and to get better. And you’re never done developing, especially with a rookie. And I just think the time that he’s played this year will obviously be very, very helpful for him in the future.”