What does Gardner Minshew’s broken thumb mean for Jaguars?

As it turns out, Gardner Minshew has played with a broken thumb for a few weeks now.

Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback Gardner Minshew broke his thumb a few weeks ago back on Oct. 11. The second-year pro out of Washington State has played through the injury, but his play has regressed. Jacksonville has lost six games in a row after winning its season opener over the AFC South division rival Indianapolis Colts. Minshew is on the verge of being benched.

The Fantasy Footballers are perplexed that it took until the Jaguars’ bye week in Week 8 for this injury to be caught by the medical staff. While it is a reason for his declining play of late, it may not be grounds to bench him entirely. If the Jaguars do bench Minshew ahead of their Week 9 contest vs. the division rival Houston Texans in favor of Mike Glennon, it’s season over in Duval.

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While Minshew has overachieved his draft projection as a former sixth-round pick out of Washington State, the Jaguars are in the mix to land one of the top quarterbacks entering the 2021 NFL Draft. Though the pitiful New York Jets are one game worse than them, Jacksonville would be in the market to take either Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields in next spring’s draft.

If Minshew is benched, it means Tank for Trevor is fully on in Duval

So is Minshew worth passing on Lawrence or Fields? I guess the better question is would you rather have Baker Mayfield over John Elway or Steve Young? If that doesn’t paint a clearer picture with NFL prototypes, what will? Minshew knows he has to battle for his life as an NFL starting quarterback. As soon as Glennon is inserted, there is no doubt what direction the future is.

Glennon’s best trait as a quarterback is being tall. It helped lead to Russell Wilson transferring from North Carolina State to Wisconsin and it got him a lucrative contract with both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chicago Bears. Once Glennon is asked to start, any semblance of winning games are over this year in Jacksonville. From that point, it might be time to move off Minshew.

Ultimately, Minshew finds himself between a rock and a hard place. If he doesn’t play, Glennon will and it’s over for Minshew in Jacksonville. If he does play with a busted thumb, it will hurt his trade value. So what is he to do? Minshew will do what he does best, not take any day for granted and give his team the best chance to succeed whenever he’s out there. He may be elsewhere in 2021.