Despite coaching uncertainty, confidence high on Minshew

JACKSONVILLE — When asked about finishing with numbers similar to those posted by the first two quarterbacks drafted this year, Gardner Minshew interrupted the question with one correction.

“Better,” he said. A sixth-round pick and the 10th quarterback selected in April, Minshew clearly feels good about what he accomplished as a rookie.

“I know what I am,” he said Monday. “I know I’m going to be a great quarterback in this league. I think we’re going to build something great here.”

Minshew and the Jacksonville Jaguars (6-10) head into the offseason with more optimism at the position than they’ve had in years.

There’s uncertainty surrounding coach Doug Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell, but Minshew may have ended the team’s decadeslong search for a franchise QB. He completed 61% of his passes for 3,271 yards, with 21 touchdowns and six interceptions in 14 games.

He went 6-6 in 12 starts, earning more wins than Arizona’s Kyler Murray (five) and the New York Giants’ Daniel Jones (three). Murray threw for more yards and had fewer turnovers; Jones had three more TD passes.

“The biggest thing for me is helping my team win, and I did that better than any rookie quarterback, so that gets me fired up a little bit,” Minshew said. “You can’t help but compare yourself to those guys, especially when they get taken before you. You can always have that chip.

“I still remember guys that got offered to schools I wanted to go to and I didn’t get those opportunities.”

Meetings, decisions: Owner Shad Khan is scheduled to meet with Marrone and Caldwell on Tuesday, with the belief that Khan wants to see how they plan to fix the problems before making any decisions regarding their futures.

If Khan likes what he hears, he could bring both back for a go without top executive Tom Coughlin. Khan fired Coughlin two weeks ago, essentially blaming the two-time Super Bowl winning coach for the toxicity that has built up within the organization.

Marrone and Caldwell have two years remaining on their contracts. Marrone is 23-28 in his three seasons as head coach.