What to know about Eagles backup QB Gardner Minshew, from ‘Minshew Mania’ to living in a van to wanting to break his own hand

When news came down on Monday that Jalen Hurts could miss multiple games with a sprained right shoulder, panic naturally set in across the Delaware Valley.

How could this happen to our 13-1 Eagles and MVP-candidate QB? Is Philly cursed, forced to turn to our backup for a huge game? Wait, haven’t we seen this movie before?

Although it happened around the same time of year and to a team with similarly high Super Bowl hopes, this is not 2017 and Nick Foles will not be walking through those doors. Instead, the Eagles will turn to another name (and face) that should be at least somewhat familiar to Philly fans: Gardner Minshew, the former Jags starter who is in his second season backing up Hurts and has had some success when called upon in the past.

Before getting into any questions about Minshew himself, let’s first get to the question that’s top of mind for Eagles fans everywhere:

On his Tuesday morning radio appearance on WIP, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was still not ready to say for certain that Hurts would miss Saturday’s NFC East showdown in Dallas, but he did praise Minshew and said the backup will be “ready to roll when his number’s called.”

» READ MORE: ‘All-in trying to win’: Gardner Minshew goes from looking to free agency to holding the Eagles’ playoff hopes in his hands

While meeting with the media on Tuesday afternoon, Sirianni doubled down on his refusal to rule Hurts out from possibly returning this week against Dallas, but on a short week, that could just be a case of keeping the opponent guessing.

“He can ball,” Sirianni added on WIP. “He’s a winner, and that’s all he knows how to do.”

He certainly showed that last season when he started in a big win over the Jets that helped keep the Eagles’ playoff hopes alive, a performance so strong it actually reignited a QB controversy many thought was long dead. But before we can get to Minshew’s more recent exploits on an NFL field, let’s start back with where he came from, how he got here and anything else you need to know about him.

In a word? A character.

We’ll get more into that in a minute, but it’s worth pointing out that Minshew is also a pretty good football player. After bouncing around in college and winding up with Mike Leach at Washington State — a connection that Minshew says “changed his life” — the Mississippi native was taken in the sixth round of the 2019 draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, and earned the backup job to ... that’s right ... Nick Foles.

And when Foles went down with an injury in Week 1, it was Minshew who took over, leading the Jags to a 4-4 record and looking pretty good doing it, sporting his signature mustache and wild “Minshew Mania” style. Foles ultimately struggled in his return and was eventually traded away the following offseason, allowing Minshew to take over the starter’s role. After suffering an injury of his own in 2020, the Jaguars went on to earn the No. 1 draft pick, selecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence and all but spelling the end for Minshew in Jacksonville.

» READ MORE: Eagles stats: How will Gardner Minshew change the look of the Eagles offense?

During the 2021 preseason, the Eagles traded a conditional sixth-round pick to the Jaguars for Minshew. Needless to say, with Hurts yet to establish himself as an MVP candidate and the apparent long-term solution at the position for the Eagles, there was a QB controversy brewing. And that doesn’t even take into account that Joe Flacco was already on the roster as well.

The Eagles put that to rest prior to the start of the season, officially naming Hurts the starter, and even going so far as to reveal that they consulted with Hurts before acquiring Minshew — perhaps a sign they learned some lessons from the Hurts-Carson Wentz debacle a year earlier.

While Minshew began the season as the No. 3 behind Hurts and Flacco, he quickly moved up to No. 2 when the Eagles traded Flacco to the Jets in late October, and with Hurts having “an up-and-down season,” questions again crept up about Minshew taking over as the starter. But once again, the Eagles were quick to shoot them down.

And that’s exactly what happened ... until it didn’t.

The Eagles never wavered from Hurts as their starter — even if some outside the organization did at various points throughout the season — but the Birds didn’t have much of a choice but to turn to Minshew after Hurts injured his ankle in a Week 12 loss to the Giants. With the 5-7 Eagles’ playoff hopes very much in doubt at that point, the team handed the ball to Minshew, and he did the thing Sirianni said is the only thing he knows how do to: win.

That win over the Jets, which allowed the Eagles to take some momentum into their bye week, gave Hurts time to get healthy, and kicked off a four-game win streak. Minshew went 20-for-25 for 242 and a pair of touchdowns, but it’s his postgame celebration with his dad that’s perhaps the most memorable.

Remember when we said Minshew was a character? Now imagine what Minshew’s reaction would look like if he beats the Cowboys to clinch the division and the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the Birds.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts’ shoulder injury seems more aggravating than dangerous, sports medicine physician says

In short, it’s a state of mind. It’s “Linsanity” for football. And it’s really the only way to describe the aura of the Eagles backup QB, known just as much for his mustache and off-field antics as for his arm and his on-field play, although one certainly fuels the other.

Just check out this story about how Minshew considered breaking his own hand with a hammer. Or read this list of some of his best off-field moments, from his fashion icon status to the mustache give away to the time he met Uncle Rico.

And if that wasn’t enough to convince you, try this profile on Minshew spending five months this offseason living in a bus outside the gym where he trains, so he could focus on preparing for the season.

On Sunday, he could finally get to see if all that offseason work and living in cramped conditions was worth it.

» READ MORE: DeVonta Smith confident in the Eagles offense despite Jalen Hurts’ injury ahead of the Cowboys game

That might be the real question people came here to have answered. And since I’m not a football analyst and haven’t watched a ton of Minshew prior to his time in Philly, we’ll let the stats speak for themselves.

For the college stats, it is worth noting that 2018 is when Minshew hooked up with Leach and started running a very QB-friendly offense.

COLLEGE STATS

PRO STATS

And now here’s a look at how Minshew has played since turning pro ...

In his only two starts for the Eagles, which includes that previously mentioned Jets game, Minshew is 39-for-58 (67.24%), for 428, 4 touchdowns, an interception, and a 104.7 passer rating.

He could have a chance to add to those numbers on Christmas Eve in Dallas.