Quarterback Gardner Minshew threw two touchdown passes as he led the Jacksonville Jaguars to their first victory of the season, against divisional rivals, the Tennessee Titans.
The Jaguars went ahead in the first quarter when their offense made the most of a short field, following a muffed punt. Minshew’s pass to the corner of the end zone was hauled in by James O’Shaugnessy.
Minshew’s second touchdown pass also came in the first quarter and the rookie connected with DJ Chark for a 22-yard reception.
Josh Lambo extended Jacksonville’s lead to 17-0 and the struggling Titans offense finally got their first points of the game when Derrick Henry rushed into the end zone in the fourth quarter.
The Jaguars defense finished the game with nine sacks on Marcus Mariota, Calais Campbell recording three, as they recorded a 20-7 victory.
Minshew Leads Jaguars To Victory
Jacksonville started their season with a 40-26 defeat at home to the Kansas City Chiefs, where starting quarterback Nick Foles was injured early in the game.
Minshew came into the game and went 22-for-25 for 275-yards, two touchdowns and an interception. In Week 2, the Jags lost 13-12 against the Houston Texans.
The rookie quarterback lead his side past the Titans in week 3 for their first win of the season and said it was “awesome” to do just that, in front of the Thursday Night Football cameras.
“You can’t beat it,” he said. “It was awesome to experience it with these guys. We’ve been battling our tails off, getting closer and closer, and to finally do it, in our home field, it was a lot of fun.”
Chark Playing With “A Lot” Of Confidence
The Jags, who moved on from Blake Bortles in the offseason, were having success with a lot of their deep throws, to the likes of Chark and Dede Westbrook.
Chark caught four of his five targets for 76-yards, including the 22-yard touchdown reception. Minshew spoke about the threat the receiver has and believes he’s playing with “confidence” at the moment.
Minshew said: “DJ has been awesome. He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now. I have a lot of confidence in him. When he’s one-on-one, I’m gonna give him a shout.”