Despite the limitations that COVID-19 has provided, Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Jay Gruden feels as though he won’t have a hard time connecting with quarterback Gardner Minshew whenever the team is permitted to be together.
One reason for that is because he feels Minshew is as easy going as he is. The other reason is because he likes the competitive spirit in which Minshew brings when he’s on the field.
“Well, it better mesh,” Gruden said Tuesday when asked about the relationship he looks to have with Minshew. “It’s my job to make it mesh, you know, to take on the personality of the quarterback and get him to understand what we’re trying to get accomplished on the play to play, game to game, week to week basis, it’s going to be critical. I love Gardner’s competitive spirit. You could see it shine through on tape when he was in college and obviously last year in the games he got to play.”
Tuesday’s video conference marked Gruden’s first with the local media since he joined the Jags back in January to replace former coordinator John DeFilippo. He previously spent time with the Washington Redskins as their head coach from 2014 to some of 2019. There he worked with youngster Kirk Cousins, who is now with the Minnesota Vikings.
Gruden was also able to have some success as a coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals prior to his head coaching run where he coached Andy Dalton. He at least had one postseason trip with both quarterbacks and the hope is that he can now help Minshew take another step.
Minshew will be coming off a season where he was able to register a 6-6 record after being thrust into a starting role Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs and reinserted later Week 14 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Despite not being able to take the field with his teammates at the Jags’ facility, it appears Gruden is happy with how things have gone so far with Minshew being a leader as he’s clearly putting in the work away from the team’s facility.
🎥 Jags QB @GardnerMinshew5 has been counted out over & over again.
BUT he has traits you can’t measure & 1 of them is a work ethic that is relentless.
He should be an inspiration to any young QB who feels overlooked.
Why not YOU? pic.twitter.com/bidymiS2jL
— QB Country (@QBCountry) May 21, 2020