Gardner Minshew could be benched by Jaguars as soon as Week 7 vs. Chargers, per report

Gardner Minshew’s hot start for the Jacksonville Jaguars is a thing of the past. Now, the Jaguars quarterback may be fighting for his job. Minshew, who statistically has better numbers than last year, struggled during the Jaguars’ loss to the Detroit Lions last Sunday — and head coach Doug Marrone added some pressure for his young quarterback in not ruling out sitting Minshew if he struggles again. 

“Maybe in the future, I think,” Marrone said. “I mean, I’d be naïve not to say (it’s a possibility]. That’s up for any position, any play that we can do for ourselves to get better. I didn’t feel that way during the course of the game.”

Adding even more pressure for Minshew, he could be benched as soon as Sunday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Minshew has five interceptions and four fumbles in his last five games, leading to the talks of his benching. 

“It’s sometimes hard to find the bright side of things, but that’s what we have to do, and I think that’s what we are doing right now,” Minshew said earlier in the week. “I think we have everybody trying to pull together, trying to find solutions, had some great conversations already this week, and just trying to find and getting back to that excitement that we were playing with earlier in the year.”

Minshew leads the NFL in completions with 162, but the Jaguars have trailed by double digits the majority of the season — forcing the team to throw the ball. Per ESPN’s Michael DiRocco, five of Minshew’s eight touchdown passes since Week 1 have come with the Jaguars trailing by 10 points or more. 

Minshew has completed 67.5% of his passes with 11 touchdowns to five interceptions, but the Jaguars are in the bottom five in points scored and bottom 10 in total yards. Jacksonville has averaged just 17 points over its last four contests, failing to score over 16 in three of the past four games. 

If the Jaguars were to bench Minshew, veteran Mike Glennon is listed on the depth chart as the No. 2 quarterback. Things aren’t that drastic in Jacksonville, but Marrone isn’t afraid to pull the plug either. 

“I think when you’re going through something that we’re going through and it’s difficult, it’s with a young football team, I think it’s very natural to have people that are going to … not place blame, not that anyone’s looking to say, ‘Hey, it’s this person’s fault’, but everyone’s really trying to figure out how can this team get better and you appreciate that,” Marrone said. “My past has shown that I’ve done that everywhere I’ve been as a head coach and when that stuff is warranted, I feel very comfortable making that decision wherever it may be. 

“But this one is not [like that], this one is really all of us that we all have to do a better job and we all have to dig ourselves out of this because it’s never as easy as what some people think. It’d be easy if it was one thing, but it’s not. We have to do better at all of it, so that’s how I feel.”