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The Jacksonville Jaguars made a surprising announcement when head coach Doug Marrone said rookie quarterback Jake Luton will start in place of Gardner Minshew for the team's Week 9 game against the Houston Texans.
Minshew will be out against the Texans due to multiple fractures in his thumb. Despite those injuries, Minshew played the entirety of the Jacksonville Jaguars' Week 8 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, completing 14 of 27 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
Luton will start this week, ahead of veteran reserve quarterback Mike Glennon, a journeyman who is on his fifth team in the last five years. Glennon's career peaked as a rookie in 2013 when he wound up starting 13 games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but since the he's been a career backup, playing for the Bucs, Bears, Cardinals and Raiders.
Minshew had reportedly been hiding the thumb injury for quite sometime and despite all that, has been performing well considering the state of the team. The Jacksonville Jaguars are 1-6 and going into the season were expected to be one of the league's worst teams.
NFL Week 9: Luton was a 6th-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars
Luton was drafted out of Oregon State in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Jaguars. In his final year as a Beaver, Luton passed for 2,714 yards with 28 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Luton's draft profile coincidentally was compared to his current teammate, Glennon, a guy with a big arm but limited mobility.
As for Luton on Sunday, he will be going up against the AFC South division rival Texans, who are also 1-6. This will be their second meeting, after the Texans beat the Jaguars 30-14 in Week 5. Will the Texans' defense run all over Luton and give him nightmares, or will he light the Texans' secondary on fire? It will be an interesting game for viewers to tune into on their screens.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have some playmakers among their pass-catchers, such as receivers DJ Chark and rookie Leviska Shenault Jr. But with a rookie QB under center who is being thrust into a starting role, expect Jacksonville to rely heavily on its run game. Against the Chargers, running back James Robinson had 119 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
Playing at home against one of the worst teams in the league is the ideal scenario in which to debut a rookie quarterback, so Jake Luton has that going for him
