Rookie QB Gardner Minshew starts debut game but Jaguars routed 29-0

BALTIMORE – Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles was given the night off, but rookie Gardner Minshew got plenty of work filling in for him during Thursday’s preseason opener against Baltimore.

Yet, Minshew’s debut game is likely one he would rather forget than remember.

It was mostly filled with misfired throws, protection breakdowns and no scoring drives.

The Jaguars lost 29-0 to the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on a night when coach Doug Marrone held out nearly all of his top players, all were a healthy scratch that included running back Leonard Fournette, receivers Dede Westbrook, Chris Conley, starting center Brandon Linder and Foles. In all, 31 players did not play, including 20 starters.

Ravens coach Jim Harbaugh, whose team practiced against the Jaguars twice this week, didn’t have the same plan.

The Ravens came out with most of their starters playing, including starting quarterback Lamar Jackson. He played the entire first quarter before his night was done after throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass that put the Ravens up 10-0.

But preseason games are meant to be a measure of what a team’s strengths and weaknesses are before the regular season begins.

Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo found out it is much harder for his unit to sustain drives when the backup offensive line is in the game

During practices against the Ravens, the Jaguars didn’t have much trouble going downfield with a big-strike passes from Foles and big runs from Fournette.

But Thursday night, the Jaguars couldn’t establish anything behind Minshew or from backups quarterbacks Tanner Lee or Alex McGough.

The trio combined for 65 yards passing on 10-of-25 attempts. They were sacked four times and picked off twice.

Indeed it was that bad, but fortunately it not the regular season yet.

Six of the Jaguars’ first seven drives ended in punts before halftime. On the lone drive that didn’t, Minshew couldn’t connect to receiver Tre McBride over the middle on a fourth-and-1 play at midfield.

''We had a hard time getting things going,'' Minshew said. ''We're going to take this film and fix these mistakes and just keep better. To compete against them all week, it builds your confidence. But tonight, we just couldn't get anything going.''

Minshew, a sixth-round pick in the 2018 draft, completed 7-of-14 passes for 46 yards. Minshew’s longest completion was for 18 yards. On the second play of the game, receiver DJ Chark was open in the seam and Minshew badly overthrew him.

On the third play, Minshew was sacked. He had only 14 yards passing after his first six completions. The Jaguars were held to two first downs in the first quarter and it didn’t get much better over the next 15 minutes. They went into halftime with five first downs and only 83 total yards and trailing by a 16-arro0 that felt like they were down by six touchdowns.

The only time the Jaguars crossed the end zone, it didn't count for points. Receiver Keelan Cole returned a kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown but it was nullified after rookie safety Andrew Wingard was flagged for holding. 

''I understand there are going to be effort-type penalties that go on in a game, those you can live with,'' Marrone said. ''But unforced, unnecessary errors, we're not going to put up with.''   

They had no momentum, no big plays and their defense gave up too much yardage and too many scoring drives.

Midway in the quarter, Minshew fumbled the snap before Ravens inside linebacker Kenny Young came charging untouched to deliver a shot. Minshew was pummeled and his helmet flew off on impact from Young. Minshew managed to recover his own fumble at the Jaguars 3.

Seven plays later, Logan Cooke was back on the field to punt.

Lee came in after halftime and was promptly sacked twice and then picked off that cornerback Cyrus Jones returned for a 19-yard touchdown.

''Gardner was hit a lot, and we didn't do a lot of things upfront,'' Marrone said. ''So that's a concern. I told the team afterwards, it's a performance-based business. When you get out there, it counts. For us, it's on Thursday night's now. That's when you have to play.''

 They'll get another shot next Thursday when the Philadelphia Eagles come to town.