Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew wins NFL Rookie of the Month for September

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew has won NFL Rookie of the Month for the month of September.

Minshew took over for injured quarterback Nick Foles in the first quarter of Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs and during the month of September completed 84 of 121 passes (69.4 completion percentage) for 905 yards, seven touchdowns, and one interception for a passer rating of 106.9.

His 69.4 completion percentage and 106.9 passer rating are both the fifth-highest in the NFL this season among players with at least 100 pass attempts, and he leads all rookies in both categories.

Minshew threw for more than 200 yards and posted a passer rating of at least 95.0 in each of his first four contests of his career during the month of September, becoming the first player in the NFL since 1990 to register 200-plus passing yards and a passer rating of at least 95.0 in each of his first four career games. He is also the only quarterback in the NFL to achieve the feat in all four games to open the 2019 season.

The Washington State product was especially productive in the red zone in September, where his 123.9 passer rating (8 of 11 passing for 57 yards, 5 touchdowns and zero interceptions) is the highest in the NFL with at least 10 passing attempts in the red zone.

Minshew is the first Jaguars player to win NFL Rookie of the Month honors since linebacker Clint Ingram in November 2006, and the first offensive rookie since Byron Leftwich in December 2003. Overall, he is the seventh different Jaguars player to win Rookie of the Month honors (Fred Taylor is the only rookie in franchise history to win Rookie of the Month honors multiple times — September 1998 and December 1998). Minshew has also won the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week award twice this season, in Week 1 and in Week 3, and is once again a finalist for this week’s award.