It wasn't just his fellow rookies. And it wasn't just the coaching staff.
Even before his 22 of 25, 275-yard performance against the Kansas City Chiefs, Gardner Minshew had earned the trust of the Jaguars' locker room.
"He gave us some hope. He gave us some belief," veteran defensive end Calais Campbell said Monday.
"He's taken every rep in practice [last] week with the mindset of 'I'm the next man up. Anything can happen,'" wide receiver Chris Conley added.
And while the Jaguars traded a 2020 fifth-round pick to add depth to their quarterback room -- Josh Dobbs has been in the NFL since 2017 -- Minshew's 22 pass completions yesterday were more than the 12 Dobbs has had in his two-plus year, professional career.
More importantly: Minshew has the trust of his teammates.
"The best thing he did yesterday was communicating -- slowing things down, communicating," offensive lineman Will RIchardson added. "Very fearless, very motivated. Very crafty guy. He's great at reads. He's great at audible'ing -- he had a couple [Sunday].
"I think the kid is gonna be great... I think he proved it [Sunday] stepping into the spot that he did."
Minshew's head coach, Doug Marrone, admitted: there was room for concern after Minshew did not find the end-zone despite quarterbacking the bulk of the Jaguars' four, preseason games.
"He didn't take one snap [last week in practice] against the [Jaguars] defense -- or work with the receivers -- at all during the week. And then he comes in and plays like that?" Marrone smiled at Monday's media availability. "We were in the meeting and I was like, 'do we practice him this week against our next opponent or do we kinda just let him run the scout team and throw him out there again?' Are we gonna screw him up?"
Because, as Marrone readily admitted, not every player can take what they learn in the classroom and immediately apply it to a live game.
"I really don't know how many people -- especially rookies -- can go out there, not having done anything during the week, [and do what he did.] It's the truth. Nick took all the snaps," Marrone continued. "To go out there and play like that? That's a credit to him."
The Jaguars' next opponent, the Houston Texans, now have almost a full-game's worth of tape on Minshew, so that will certainly affect the Jaguars' offense. So, after that stellar debut, only one question remains:
"Can he keep playing at that high level?"
The Jaguars (0-1) travel to Houston (0-0) to face the Texans Sunday, September 15 at 1 p.m. The Jaguars were win-less against their AFC South rivals in 2018.