What to do when a backup quarterback performs so well that he makes it a difficult decision for the head coach on whether to stick with what’s been working or bring the starter back as soon as he’s healthy?
Just eight weeks into this NFL season, several of those scenarios already have presented themselves. The Saints have faced it. The Panthers are facing it. And so, too, are the Jaguars.
The Saints on Sunday went back to Drew Brees after they’d won five consecutive games with Teddy Bridgewater filling in admirably, and they whipped the Cardinals.
The Panthers, with starter Cam Newton on the shelf with a foot injury, won four consecutive games with undrafted rookie Kyle Allen filling in before they were crushed by the 49ers on Sunday.
The Jaguars, who lost starter Nick Foles to a fractured collarbone early in their season opener, have unearthed one of the best feel-good stories in the league with rookie sixth-round draft pick Gardner Minshew II, a collegiate journeyman who played at three different schools, becoming a folk hero in Jacksonville.
Minshew, who’s thrown 13 TDs and two INTs, led the Jaguars to a 29-15 win over the Jets to help even Jacksonville’s record to 4-4 entering Sunday’s game against the Texans in London.
It appears Foles, whom the Jaguars signed as a free agent in the offseason for $88 million, might be healthy enough to return after the Jaguars’ bye week following the London game.
That will present Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone with a dilemma — albeit a good problem to have: Bring back his starter, who was having a good opener before he was injured, or stick with the backup who injected hope into a season that could have spiraled before it had a chance?
In Jacksonville to cover the Jets-Jaguars game Sunday, I bumped into Marrone, a former Jets offensive line coach, in the bowels of TIAA Bank Stadium a couple hours before the game. During our conversation, I asked him what he plans to do about Minshew when Foles is ready to return.
Marrone insisted he didn’t know, that it was a good, pressing question to ponder, but not one he was ready to tackle yet.
But the topic was so much on Marrone’s mind after Minshew threw three touchdown passes and no INTs in the Jags’ win over the Jets that, when asked by a local reporter if Minshew’s performance had made his impending decision difficult, he referenced our conversation from earlier in the day.
“Mark Cannizzaro today was here earlier walking around the hallway, (and) for those who don’t know, Mark was there my first time in the NFL; he was a beat writer for the Jets,” Marrone began. “We were in the hallway and he asks me the same question: ‘Hey, what are you going to do?’
“I told Mark I got this question in a press conference and I know that (for) people who don’t know me it’s hard for them to believe, but why would I go through scenarios in my mind and waste my time with scenarios when I have to get ready for another game?” Marrone went on. “This is what I told him: ‘If we didn’t have a bye after the Texans game, I think somewhere along the line next week, I would start going through that in my mind.’
“I’m going to have to make a decision, but since we have the bye, there’s so many things that can happen between now and then, whether injuries come into play with either quarterback or whatever may happen, so for me, I’m not going to waste my time. That’s probably my strength and my weakness. My strength is I can focus on something, but my weakness might be down the road, if you don’t see this thing coming.
“To answer your question, I really haven’t thought about it. The reason why is because I don’t have to and I don’t want to. I’ll deal with it when it happens. And that’s the truth.”
Saints coach Sean Payton, as Brees recovered from his thumb injury, was going back to Brees all along given his cachet with the franchise as a Super Bowl champion and his veteran status.
Filling in for Brees, Bridgewater threw for 1,370 yards, nine touchdowns and a 67.7 completion percentage. Brees threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns just 40 days after surgery.
“As soon as I could get back, I was going to get back,” Brees told reporters.
Then he praised Bridgewater, saying, “I can’t say enough good things about him. I love the fact that our fan base has embraced him the way they have.”
The Panthers’ case likely will be similarly cut-and-dried whenever Newton is healthy enough to play, though Carolina coach Ron Rivera has had less patience with reporters’ inquiries about the situation than Marrone has.
With the perception that Allen has been merely managing the position for the Panthers and that he was exposed by the 49ers, who stymied Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey and dared Allen to beat them (to no success), Newton is almost certain to be back when he’s healthy enough.
Allen had gone 159 passes to start his NFL career without throwing an INT, the third-longest such streak in NFL history. He threw three on Sunday, which dulled the shine on his feel-good story.
That Newton was at the game Sunday, on the road with the team for the first time since he re-injured his foot in Week 2, leads you to believe he’s nearing a return, whether it’s this week at home against the Titans or the following week in Green Bay.
“Cam is still rehabbing,” Rivera told reporters Sunday. “There doesn’t have to be a lot of questions, either. Just so you know that.”
There will be questions to answer soon for Rivera — just as there will be for Marrone in due time, despite how much larger the Minshew legend might grow in London on Sunday.