Jacksonville Jaguars: QB Gardner Minshew questionable with thumb injury

Gardner Minshew now joins the Jacksonville Jaguars’ lengthy injury list.

When we thought things couldn’t get worse for the Jacksonville Jaguars after losing a game that they had a good chance at winning and had no business losing, things indeed got worse. What already looked like a long Bye Week for the team has gotten even worse after finding out about news regarding one of their most prominent players.

Adam Schefter of ESPN recently reported that Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew has a fracture and sprained ligaments in the thumb of his throwing hand. Shefter added that Minshew has had discomfort in his thumb since October 11, when the team took on the Houston Texans. This revelation only adds more fuel to the fire that is the quarterback situation in Jacksonville.

The Jaguars are currently enjoying a week off, which gives Minshew some time to recover from his injury. However, it’s uncertain whether he will be ready to start practicing next week and whether he will start or even dress up in the season rematch against Houston in Week 9.

Last week, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone wouldn’t rule out a change at quarterback and said that if Minshew continued to perform poorly, he wouldn’t hesitate to bench him. While Marrone had the decision made for him, this injury might retroactively explain some of the quarterback’s accuracy struggles in recent weeks.

What this means for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Gardner Minshew.

The Jags currently have veteran Mike Glennon and rookie Jake Luton on the roster. Although Luton showed promise in the offseason, he’s an unproven commodity and Glennon hasn’t shown anything in recent years that would make the team confident about him stepping on the field. Keep in mind that starting one of the two in place of Minshew won’t likely fix their issues, as the Jaguar’s struggles go way farther back than at quarterback.

While Minshew can likely play through this injury with a little extra hand protection, it may be a good idea to let him sit out and rest his hand. At this point, it feels safe to say that the Jaguars are tanking without even trying. They’re going through a rebuild (whether they accept it or not) and the prospect of getting higher draft picks may be too tempting to pass up.

Minshew Mania isn’t over just yet but the Jags surely envisioned their sophomore quarterback to thrive only to fall flat. Then again, the same could be said about pretty much the whole team. We don’t think the team’s brass wanted things to play out this way, at least not intentionally.