Nick Foles excused from Jaguars OTAs

Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback Nick Foles won’t be at the team’s organized team activity (OTA) on Tuesday, the team announced prior to practice. He will be excused for personal reasons according to the team.

It’s never a good sign when a coach has to couch a player’s absence by saying “thoughts and prayers” are with them and their family. From a football standpoint, missing a single day of practice in May is unlikely to have any huge effects long term, as by all accounts Foles already has a firm grasp of the Jaguars new offense thanks to his familiarity with offensive coordinator John DeFilippo. But the most important thing is that Foles does whatever he needs to for his family.

Foles has gotten positive reviews so far in OTA practices, as one would expect, connecting on multiple deep throws and generally looking like a real NFL quarterback. With Foles gone, I would expect sixth-round pick Gardner Minshew to get the lion’s share of the snaps with the first team, as he tries to cement his position as the team’s primary backup.