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Gardner Minshew

Jacksonville's passing game looking sneaky good

At what point do we start taking Gardner Minshew more seriously? He doesn’t turn the ball over, and he’s accurate. He’s got Jacksonville’s passing game looking kind of plucky.

He certainly shows up on opening day ready to play. Last year, recall, he came off the bench and completed 22 of 25 against Kansas City. On Sunday, he went 19 of 20 against the Colts.

In the Super Bowl era, only seven quarterbacks have attempted at least 85 percent of their passes in season openers. (That’s with at least 20 attempts). Minshew is the only guy who’s done it twice.

HIGHEST COMPLETION PERCENTAGE IN OPENERS
YearPlayerOppResultCmpAttPctTDInt
2020Gardner Minshew, JAXINDW 27-20192095.0%30
2020Russell Wilson, SEA@ATLW 38-25313588.6%40
2019Gardner Minshew, JAXKANL 26-40222588.0%21
1983Lynn Dickey, GNB@HOUW 41-38273187.1%51
2003Mark Brunell, JAX@CARL 23-24232785.2%20
1993Jeff Hostetler, RAIMINW 24-7232785.2%11
2019Lamar Jackson, BAL@MIAW 59-10172085.0%50
2019Derek Carr, OAKDENW 24-16222684.6%10
2017Sam Bradford, MINNORW 29-19273284.4%30
1997Rob Johnson, JAX@BALW 28-27202483.3%20
2006Matt Hasselbeck, SEA@DETW 9-6253083.3%00
2015Philip Rivers, SDGDETW 33-28344182.9%22
2018Drew Brees, NORTAML 40-48374582.2%30
2014Geno Smith, NYJOAKW 19-14232882.1%11
2008Aaron Rodgers, GNBMINW 24-19182281.8%10
1989Vinny Testaverde, TAM@GNBW 23-21222781.5%10
1970John Brodie, SFOWASW 26-17172181.0%10
2002Vinny Testaverde, NYJ@BUFW 37-31243080.0%20
2015Tony Romo, DALNYGW 27-26364580.0%32
2020Lamar Jackson, BALCLEW 38-6202580.0%30
1968Joe Kapp, MINATLW 47-7162080.0%30
2001Elvis Grbac, BALCHIW 17-6243080.0%10
2017Alex Smith, KAN@NWEW 42-27283580.0%40

(The Pro-Football-Reference.com website used to pull these numbers).

—Ian Allan

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