Gardner Minshew Reflects on Rookie Season: 'I Didn’t Even Get a Place There Until After Preseason Because I Didn’t Know if I Was Making the Team'

Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew sat down with First Things First on FS1 to discuss a variety of topics during Super Bowl week on Wednesday.

2019 was a whirlwind for Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II. From starring for Washington State one month to training for the NFL draft the next, to having to wait until the sixth-round to hear his name called, and then, finally, to starting in 12 games as a rookie. Life never slowed down for the young, mustached passer.

Thankfully, Minshew has had some time to relax and reflect on the past year of his life now that the NFL season is over and he, at last, has no obligations.

Speaking with First Things First on FS1 on Wednesday, Minshew went through his wide range of emotions throughout his rookie season. As he told it, he wasn't even sure entering the regular-season that he would be on the Jaguars' roster in Week 1.

"It was crazy, you know. Coming in, like I didn't even get a place there until after preseason because I didn't know if I was making the team, if they were doing, you know, whatever," Minshew explained.

"I didn't even get a place [in Jacksonville] until after preseason because I didn't know if I was making the team. And then the first game Nick goes down and I'm crushed. Then I'm like, 'Oh wait, that means I'm going in.'" — @GardnerMinshew5 pic.twitter.com/T2zC2VywE4

— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) January 29, 2020

Minshew would go on to not only make the team after a rocky preseason, but he would go on to star for an otherwise underperforming Jaguars team. He got his first shot to play much earlier than anyone could've anticipated, replacing Nick Foles in Week 1 after Foles sustained a clavicle injury in the first quarter of the season opener.

"Then the first game, Nick goes down, and I am crushed. I am like, 'dude, Nick. That is my guy,' Then I am like, 'oh wait, that means I am going in," Minshew said. "It was crazy. I had a lot of great people around me to help me, you know, guys on the offense, coaches, to get me ready for that."

Minshew, who led all rookie quarterbacks in wins with a 6-6 record, also discussed the comparisons between himself and rookie quarterbacks selected before him such as Arizona's Kyler Murray and New York's Daniel Jones. Minshew made headlines shortly after the season when he stated he had the best season of the rookie quarterbacks, but he had a more conservative approach to the comparisons this time around.

"I want to be the best quarterback I can be for the Jacksonville Jaguars," Minshew told hosts Nick Wright, Jenna Wolfe, and Eric Mangini.

"Kyler Murray doesn't play for the Jaguars, Daniel Jones didn't play for the Jaguars. I play for the Jaguars and that is all I can really concern myself with."

As Minshew explained, he has a different story than other quarterbacks. He never asked to be a first-round draft pick like Murray or Jones were because he didn't think he needed to become one to prove himself. Instead, all he wanted was a chance. Little did he know the chance would come in Jacksonville the way it did.

"All I ever said was I needed a chance. I didn't ask to be a first-round pick, I didn't ask to be thrown into a starting role. I just asked for a chance," Minshew said.

"I knew the first thing I had to do, I had to get on the team. And if I was on the team, I would get a chance. It came sooner than I expected -- sooner than any of us would have wanted, but I was sure grateful [for] it and wanted to do the best with it."

Moving forward, there is no guarantee that Minshew will start in 2020 despite passing for 3,271 yards, 21 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. But Minshew won't focus on the unknown; instead, he will work on learning a new offensive scheme under new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden and honing his craft.

"I am about to be, starting Monday, down in Naples. I won't leave there," Minshew said. "I will be training for two and a half months, getting ready, and busting my tail to get ready to go."