Once Gardner Minshew II was headed to the Senior Bowl in 2019, the quarterback's hippie-adjacent personality was known around college football.
But just as important to Minshew's mindset was his drive to reach the NFL, so he reached out to 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens, whom he knew and who happened to play for Minshew's bowl game coaching staff – including Mike LaFleur.
Minshew called LaFleur before the week of practice to get a jump on the offense.
"I didn't know if it was going to be 20 minutes and I finally told my wife, 'Cancel our dinner plans because he's going to go for about four hours,'" LaFleur recalled Wednesday following the Cardinals' OTA.
"It absolutely made an impression," said Minshew, who has been running with the first unit with Jacoby Brissett absent from the voluntary work. "That was something I was telling the younger guys here, you really never know when those connections come around.
"At the time I was just trying to be more prepared for that game. It turns out it was a lot of the reason it got me the opportunity here. That's awesome, man."
The Cardinals and LaFleur signed Minshew to a one-year free-agent contract in March. Since then, the team drafted Carson Beck in the third round while Brissett has stayed away while trying to get a reworked contract.
Minshew as the starting quarterback isn't something he's thinking about – "I don't know, man. I'm getting the reps I'm getting right now trying to do the best I can" – and is philosophical about getting playing time.
It fits for the former sixth-round pick who has started at least eight games in four of his seven seasons and a total of five in his other three years.
"All you really have is the work you put in," Minshew said. "At one point, somebody is going to be better than you and they are going to play, and at some point you'll be the best guy in the room and you'll get a chance to play. All you really have is the opportunity to work, get better, and enjoy the guys around you."
The guys around Minshew have quickly learned that Minshew has arrived to work but certainly hasn't left behind his quirky personality.
"He's come in with a great attitude," center Hjalte Froholdt said recently on Arizona Sports. "He's a salt of the earth kind of guy. The first day, he rolled up in the Sprinter van, he's like, 'Yeah man, I can take a freaking nap and take a shower in the back of that thing, dude. It's sick!'
"I'm like, do you go home or just stay in the friggin' parking lot? He's like, 'I don't show and tell brother, I can't say where I'm headed.' He's a good dude."
Minshew said in the past he's spent time in Flagstaff, Sedona and the Grand Canyon, and added he'd like to head to Greer and get in some fly fishing. He smiled when asked about his RV.
"Aw man it's got four wheels and a bed, man," he said. "It's ready to go."
But the QB who quipped he washes his long hair with "water and sunshine" when he was signed by the Cardinals brings more than just an interesting personality to the team.
"I think what is good in the locker room is just authentically being yourself," LaFleur said. "Whether that is a coach or player, you just be you. Guys are going to respect guys that are being themselves, as long as they are going to work."
That Minshew will do, as he showed back at the 2019 Senior Bowl. But he also knows all work and no play can make Gardner a dull boy.
"It's fun to play football," Minshew said. "I think we forget that sometimes."
LAFLEUR TALKS BRISSETT, SWEAT
Nothing is new on the Brissett front, although LaFleur said he was not worried about Brissett missing OTAs. "He'll be just fine," LaFleur said.
The coach said the same about linebacker Josh Sweat, who also has been absent. LaFleur implied there are many players in the NFL who have different ways to train in the offseason. As far as the report the Cardinals have fielded calls for teams interested in trading for Sweat, LaFleur said he was "just excited for the fact I don't have to gameplan against this guy."
