After a spring and summer of uncertainty, football is finally back and the NFL will kick things off tonight with a matchup between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs in a Thursday Night Football showdown.
For the Jags, who play on Sunday, this season could be the start of something special. Gardner Minshew II will start after a rookie season during which he garnered the attention of many around the league. This time around, Minshew will face mounting pressure to live up to the hype as he begins his first season as a true starter.
Naturally, the teammates who’ve been closest to Minshew during the offseason are among his biggest believers after watching his growth first-hand. When asked Wednesday about the second-year quarterback’s growth, D.J. Chark Jr. shared his thoughts on Minshew’s performance as team captain.
“[It’s been] just from confidence of filling in, to just being his team—being the captain,” Chark said. “I think that’s a big jump because you know that the guys in the locker room support you and they want you to succeed. [As] opposed to wishing that somebody else was quarterback and things like that. So, I think that’s the biggest thing that transfers on the field—translates to the field because when you’re dropping back, everybody on the team wants you to succeed.”
Chark’s statements come after former Jags running back Leonard Fournette called Tom Brady the only legit quarterback he’s had. While Minshew doesn’t have a large body of work to make a call on, it seems that Chark wanted to make it clear that the current locker room isn’t among his list of doubters.
All of that said, Minshew will get his shot to further validate his rookie success Sunday against the Jags’ longtime foes in the Indianapolis Colts. While a win wouldn’t necessarily make or break the season for the Jags, it would be huge for the team’s momentum and put another feather in the cap of Minshew to silence his critics.