Jaguars OTAs: Depth will be crucial in the 2021 NFL season

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a good backup in Gardner Minshew.

Rookie quarterbacks will always struggle to adjust to the NFL. There will be days when they make progress and they will be others when they have a hard time completing a pass. Trevor Lawrence is no different and just like other signal-callers making the transition to the NFL, he won’t be flawless. Also, he was limited in practice Tuesday.

Urban Meyer spoke to the local media after practice and said that Lawrence tightened his hamstring. He added that the team didn’t want to take any chances but the former Tiger should be back Thursday. It will be interesting to see how he responds to this kind of roadblocks, as things went his way more often than not back at Clemson.

Third-year quarterback Gardner Minshew II benefited from Lawrence’s absence, as he had extra reps in practice. John Shipley of Jaguar Report says that even though the Washington product was far from perfect, he performed better than C.J. Beathard. Furthermore, Shipley believes that Minshew is entrenched as the number-two quarterback on the Jaguars’ depth chart.

Teams inquired about Minshew’s availability before this year’s draft, but this Jacksonville team opted to keep him. Looking back, it was the right decision. Lawrence doesn’t have any injury red flags but if he needs to get to the sidelines or miss time, the former Cougar could start in his place. Minshew was recently ranked as the 23rd best quarterback in the NFL, far from elite but better than some NFL starters. Even though the Jags are counting on Lawrence, they should feel good knowing they have a solid backup in Minshew.