Jaguars' Jake Luton throws first career touchdown pass, a 74-yarder to D.J. Chark

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Jake Luton wasted no time to make an immediate impact in his first career start for the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday against the Houston Texans.

On Luton’s first drive of the game, he hit wide receiver D.J. Chark for a 73-yard touchdown pass. The score put the Jaguars up early but would surrender the lead on the next drive.

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Luton started the game in place of the injured Gardner Minshew II. Minshew was out with a thumb injury. He was one of seven players deactivated by the Jaguars heading into the matchup with the Texans.

Jacksonville selected Luton in the sixth-round of the 2020 draft out of Oregon State.

Jaguars coach Doug Marrone gave high praise to Luton before the game.

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“I think Jake has a high ceiling,” Marrone said Monday. “I just want to see where this kid's at. ... Might as well look. We might as well see what we have, right? Go ahead and play him and let's go.”

There was no timetable for Minshew’s return.

“You’d like to as a coach be able to say, ‘Yeah, as soon as Gardner’s ready, he’ll be able to come back,” Marrone said. “But I think when you’re at the record we are, where we are now, we’re at 1-6, we’ve got to see what this kid can do. If this kid comes in and plays extremely well, then what?

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“Then you’re going to say, ‘How come you’re going to bench him and play the other kid?' I just think it’s common sense. Opportunities create themselves. If he does well, then we’ll see where we’re going and make that decision when the time comes.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report