The Jacksonville Jaguars coaching staff finally dispelled any notions that Trevor Lawrence won’t be their team’s starting quarterback when coach Urban Meyer named him the starter for the Week 1 game against Houston. It was a highly anticipated move although Lawrence hasn’t had the opportunity to showcase much of his skills in the preseason.
With Lawrence having secured the starting job, one might assume that Gardner Minshew II, who was at least nominally in the running to win the job, would assume the backup role. However, things may not be that cut and dry.
The Jaguars signed C.J. Beathard from San Francisco this offseason, who is an experienced backup that saw a lot of action after Jimmy Garoppolo went down last season. Beathard is being paid like a backup, and he’s been the clear standout among the quarterbacks through two preseason games.
He’s 22-of-30 passing right now for 223 yards and three touchdowns, and Meyer said that he’s still in the running with Minshew for the backup job.
“That’s open as well,” Meyer said of the No. 2 quarterback role. “Obviously, my respect for Gardner [Minshew II] has been well documented as just a warrior. Then Gardner got stuck behind some protection issues, at times [he] was running for his life back there. Then C.J. [Beathard] came in, that’s two weeks in a row. I just admire C.J., and I like C.J. as a person. He has a nice release ball, gets out fast. He played well, so yes that’s open as well.”
Given Minshew’s struggles in the preseason, the Jaguars could potentially look to move on from the third-year passer if it gets a good trade offer for him. If that doesn’t happen, though, the Jaguars will have a difficult decision to make. It is certainly possible that both players remain on the roster into the regular season, however.
Minshew will hope to make a strong statement in the final preseason game, where his role as even the backup could be on the line.