Jaguars confident Mike Glennon is the solution, at least for now

Jaguars quarterback Garnder Minshew II is healthy after suffering a right-thumb injury earlier in the season, but he’s not going to be the man to suit up at quarterback for the team on Sunday taking on the Minnesota Vikings.

In his place will be Mike Glennon, who the team started last week ahead of backup quarterback Jake Luton.

“I talked to [Offensive Coordinator] Jay [Gruden] and I spoke to [Quarterbacks Coach] Ben [McAdoo] and obviously we met offensively remotely on moving forward who gives us the best chance to win right now, today, so we’re going to go with Mike Glennon,” head coach Doug Marrone said on Wednesday.

“Mike will go into this next game [as the starter] and we just feel like he gives us the best opportunity and thought he did some really good things last week and hopefully we can build on them and move forward.”

Last week against the Cleveland Browns, Glennon looked more than competent. He completed 20 out of 35 of his passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns. It wasn’t an MVP performance, but Glennon looked calm and collected while dealing form the pocket on Sunday, something the Jaguars have needed at quarterback this season, stability.

The reasoning wasn’t too complicated, Marrone explained.

“I just think that he’s been there, he has experience. He showed that he can protect the football. He showed that he can make throws, take shots, has some accuracy. I thought he played well,” he said. “I think that he’s been practicing well, and he went in there and played well. Like I told him, I said, ‘Hey, we expect you to play better this week.’”

While he is the starting quarterback for now, Marrone says that won’t necessarily always be the case, and it could become a week-to-week competition to see who gives the team the best chance at a victory over the final five games of the season.

“Every position has to play well from week to week and if we feel like someone else behind them can produce better or give us a better chance to win, then I think we’ll go ahead and make that move. I don’t want to put it just on the one position, it’s really all positions that we’re looking at being able to do that. That’s the truth.”

It is possible Minshew could become the team’s starting quarterback again this season, but this week Glennon will get another opportunity to prove himself as the team’s leading signal caller, something he’s excited about moving forward.

“It’s good to have the respect of the coaches and for them to say that that’s great, but at the end of the day, it’s about going out there week after week and stacking good performances,” Glennon told the media on Wednesday.

“That’s one out of however many games we’ve played, that’s one out of 11. So, [we] have five games left and hopefully [I’ll] continue to build on things we did well and improve on the things I didn’t.”

Jaguars offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said on Wednesday that Glennon gives the team the best option from a communication, pre-snap standpoint. What he’s shown in the huddle have a major impact on the players.

“I think his poise, I think the time that he’s had in the National Football League has helped him. I can remember him in college at NC State. I think [he] didn’t have a great offensive line but he’s always had a great feel for sitting in the pocket, wait until the last second to deliver the ball, and he will take some hits because of that and possibly throw some air balls because of that,” he said.

“But he’s got a great feel for the pocket, good understanding of the game, concepts, defense, protections.”

Glennon is the team’s starting quarterback this week, and he’s ready for the challenge.

“I feel good. Honestly, the whole week at practice last week might have been even better than I thought and that’s carried over to today just making the play calls, seeing it,” he said. “For not really having run the offense in a couple months, I felt good, I felt comfortable, and honestly felt like I had been in it.

“That was good and hopefully we’ll only continue to improve this week.”