Gardner Minshew Seeking A Return To Relevance In Week 13

The Philadelphia Eagles swung a trade for Gardner Minshew right before the start of the 2021 NFL season.

That began the rumors of him competing for the starting job, or even taking over if Jalen Hurts showed any signs of struggle.

Hurts did struggle, but the team never made the nuclear option of benching him for the former Jacksonville folk hero.

That is all changing in Week 13, as Hurts is out with an injury.

That leaves the Eagles’ backup with a chance to bring “Minshew Mania” back, this time for the Eagles.

Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts officially inactive today.

Gardner Minshew starts.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 5, 2021

Minshew is in as the Eagles try to improve to 6-7 on the season with a win over the New York Jets.

What This Means Going Forward

Minshew is getting the start out of necessity, not because he has beaten out Hurts for the job.

So this should be a spot start, regardless of how good or bad Minshew looks against the Jets.

One would think the results will be good against the lowly Jets, but nothing is a given in the NFL this season.

Minshew is also a tough quarterback to make predictions for because there is not a large sample size.

He made his debut in 2019 and went 6-6 as a starter for the Jaguars.

#Eagles QB Gardner Minshew arrives. No further caption necessary. pic.twitter.com/k7GmjRnADB

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 5, 2021

But he was 1-7 in 2020 as the team went 1-15, landed the No. 1 overall pick, and drafted a replacement in Trevor Lawrence.

Quarterback records never tell a full story, but the fact the Jaguars were ready to trade Minshew proves he was never seen as any sort of long-term option in town.

That was likely the case even if Lawrence didn’t fall right into their lap.

But he gets a shot now to put a good start on tape and rebuild his reputation heading into the offseason.

He is someone with 20 starts under his belt and a good showing in his 21st could mean a team desperate for quarterback help in 2022 makes a trade for him and tries him out as the starter.