Mike Glennon will remain the starting quarterback.
Head Coach Doug Marrone made that clear immediately following a loss to the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, saying that Glennon – who threw two interceptions Sunday – will remain the starter when the Jaguars play host to the Tennessee Titans at TIAA Bank Field next Sunday.
Glennon has started the last two games for the Jaguars and is the team's third starting quarterback this season.
"I think that I'm going to go with him," Marrone said immediately after the Jaguars' 27-24 overtime loss to the Vikings at U.S. Bank Field in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday. "I think he still gives us the best chance to win as of right now so I'm going to stick with him right now for this week."
Glennon, after throwing two touchdowns with no interceptions in a loss to the Cleveland Browns last Sunday, completed 28 of 40 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown against the Vikings. He also led a late game-tying drive and threw the tying two-point conversion to wide receiver Collin Johnson with 1:08 remaining.
Glennon completed six of seven passes for 73 yards on the game-tying drive and was asked afterward about whether he felt the Jaguars were becoming "his team."
"That's up to the coaches," said Glennon, whose last starts before this season were with the Chicago Bears in 2017. "I feel in control. I think I've developed a good relationship with the guys, taking command and kind of bringing – hopefully – a veteran presence to the team, just through my prior experiences and knowledge. But that's not my call."
Sunday marked the first time that Games 1-7 starter Gardner Minshew II had been off the injury report since reporting a thumb injury following a Week 7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Minshew had been inactive in four games since, with rookie Jake Luton starting Games 8-10 and Glennon starting against the Browns last week and again Sunday.
Glennon committed three turnovers on Sunday, two of which led directly to points for the Vikings. A first-half interception ended a Jaguars drive at the Minnesota 22 and led to the Vikings' first touchdown. On the Jaguars' lone possession of overtime, Glennon threw high from the Jaguars 20 to wide receiver CJ Chark Jr. and safety Harrison Smith intercepted at the Jaguars 46.
That set up the Vikings' game-winning field goal drive.
"We're going to look at Mike," Marrone said. "We're going to evaluate it, but I think we're going to try to clean some things up for him and see how we can obviously do a better job."
QUOTABLE I
The Jaguars, after allowing 30 or more-points in six consecutive games – all losses – in Games 2-7 this season, haven't allowed more than 27 points since a Week 8 bye. The improvement in recent weeks has come despite multiple Jaguars starters being out with injuries, a list that on Sunday included end Josh Allen, tackle DaVon Hamilton, cornerbacks Sidney Jones IV and CJ Henderson, strongside linebacker Kamalei Correa and safety Daniel Thomas. "With the people coming in and the people coming out, injured or what you have, I think the guys have done a good job of stepping up and playing what they are supposed to do and doing their jobs and understanding it's a whole team defense," said Jaguars middle linebacker Joe Schobert, who returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second half Sunday. "Not one guy is going to win a game of football, it takes all 11. I think we've been taking steps in that direction; obviously we have to be able to pull out one more stop, one more play to get the win."
NOTABLE II
Glennon continued to show chemistry with rookie wide receiver Collin Johnson Sunday. Johnson, a fifth-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, led the Jaguars in receiving for a second consecutive game and caught six passes for a team-high 66 yards and a two-point conversion. He caught four passes for a season-high 96 yards and a touchdown against Cleveland last week. "He's stepped up and has made a lot of big plays," Glennon said of Johnson. "So, I don't know if that has to do with our chemistry or just kind of that he's in the right place at the right time with my reads. He's playing really well. I feel comfortable with Collin and hopefully we'll continue to build on that."
QUOTABLE
Glennon: "To me, wins [and] losses aside, you could sum up [the] 2020 Jaguars as a gritty group that gives it their all and have each other's backs. But there's no pointing fingers. So, although we haven't won many games, it's a group that I'd love to go to battle with and I think everyone on the team feels the same way. It's our job. This is our job to come out here and give it our all. So, to me it would be disappointing if it was the other way. So, this is the expectation and the standard."