Every day at practice, Gardner Minshew II is wearing the familiar black quarterback jersey, but he's not.
Instead of the mesh uniform tops the rest of the team has, Minshew has on a black game jersey, differentiated only by the Desert Financial patch that every practice shirt features.
"It's a very different fitting jersey (than practice jerseys)," Minshew said Saturday after the Cardinals' workout. "Only doing that on Sunday doesn't make a lot of sense. It's good to just practice that way all the time, really."
It's about getting comfortable for game situations with Minshew. That's how he is of what he wears, and how he is in coach Mike LaFleur's offense, having spent the majority of the offseason as QB1 while Jacoby Brissett sorted out his contract.
Minshew called the scheme "very user-friendly" and that comfort translated into his first preseason work during Thursday's game in Las Vegas. He was 10-for-10 in the first half with two touchdown passes during the win, finishing 14-of-16 for 101 yards and underscoring why the Cardinals wanted to grab him in free agency as Brissett's backup.
The team's quarterback room is a fascinating watch for now. As a group – Brissett, Minshew, third-round rookie Carson Beck and Kedon Slovis – the Cardinals have been nearly perfect. The quartet is a ridiculous 50-for-59 with 514 yards, five TD passes and no interceptions.
"It's kind of like a reverse s*itshow," center Hjalte Froholdt said with a smile. "They are all playing so good."
Minshew paused when relayed Froholdt's description – "That's quite a visual" – but said the coaches have simplified the ask to just operating the offense well and that's "made our job easy."
To be fair, Minshew isn't necessarily in an easy position. He is Brissett's backup. Barring injury, that won't change and, if the Cardinals get to a point in the season where they want to find out what Beck can be, the rookie could jump Minshew on the depth chart through no fault of the veteran.
But Minshew has been through a lot of scenarios in his career, and he knows how to handle them all.
"(I've had) maybe a little bit of a perspective shift, but not in the way you think," Minshew said. "What do we really have? Each day we have the opportunity to get better. You can just do that over and over. And that's it. Looking around and wondering what's around you or who is around you doesn't serve you at all and it doesn't serve the team. All you can do is show up and work."
LaFleur has a blunt ask of Minshew. "We want him to be the best backup quarterback of all time," the coach deadpanned.
"What is a backup quarterback?" LaFleur added. "You are one snap away at any given time and you have to be always ready to go. You're not always going to get the necessary reps."
That is going to change soon enough, when the regular season starts and the No. 2 QB is limited to scout team running the opponent's offense and the No. 3 QB will be limited mostly to whatever he can do post-practice.
Minshew will be comfortable with whatever. And he'll be there with a kind word for Beck or Slovis when needed.
"I'm not like a preacher or anything," Minshew said. "The best you can do for the young guys is be a great example and being encouraging to those guys."
