JACKSONVILLE – Nick Foles has strong support in the Jaguars' locker room.
That was evident throughout the offseason and training camp, and it was evident Tuesday in the wake of Foles once again becoming the Jaguars' starting quarterback.
"He's a great leader, and I think he's going to give us the opportunity to win a lot of games," Campbell told jaguars.com Tuesday.
Foles, who signed as an unrestricted free agent in the offseason and who entered the season as the Jaguars' starting quarterback, spent the last eight weeks on injured reserve after sustaining a broken clavicle in a Week 1 loss to Kansas City. He came off injured reserve on Tuesday.
Head Coach Doug Marrone on Tuesday said Foles will start ahead of rookie Gardner Minshew II in the Jaguars' next game – November 17 at Indianapolis. The Jaguars have their bye week this week.
The Jaguars (4-5) went 4-4 with Minshew as the starter.
"We're excited for the opportunity of him [Foles] being back in the huddle," wide receiver Chris Conley told jaguars.com. "He's a guy a lot of guys enjoy playing with, but the huge thing that this team is echoing is that it's grateful for the effort and the play of Gardner Minshew – him coming out there, helping us win and keeping this season alive.
"He's one of those guys who – when leaned on – got so much better over the course the preseason and through those first games. He put this offense in a position to be viable each week. We're not out of anything and a lot of that is due to the play of 15 [Minshew]."
Also around the Jaguars Tuesday:
*Marrone said he expects all active players to be healthy when the team returns from this weekend's bye. Cornerback D.J. Hayden (neck/shoulder), wide receiver Dede Westbrook (neck/shoulder), linebacker Quincy Williams (hamstring) and linebacker Leon Jacobs (hamstring) all missed Sunday's loss to the Houston Texans at Wembley Stadium in London. Marrone said he expects all will practice Monday.
*Marrone said offensive red-zone issues through nine games didn't factor into returning to Foles. "When you look at our ability in the red zone, I don't think you can pin it on one person," Marrone said. "Collectively as a group, starting with us as coaches, we have to do a better job. We have to put our players in better position, and we have to make plays down there. Obviously, we're not doing that well. That will be big focus [during the bye week]." The Jaguars rank 31st in the NFL in red-zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns on 34.48 percent of possessions inside the 20.
*Marrone on the season through nine games: "I do like this team – the way we work, the way we prepare, the way we focus. Obviously, that would probably be a really good question for Monday because I could give you specifics [after bye-week self-scouting] on things we need to work on like red-zone, third-down offense, getting better position on third-down on defense. I look at the attitude of the team and where they are … I love it. Have we fallen short of what we want to do? Absolutely. Have we not made the explosive plays or stopped explosive plays? Yes. That's what we're working to do – to do that – so we can have a much better second half of the schedule."
