Ryan Fitzpatrick, Gardner Minshew exchange facial hair barbs ahead of Dolphins-Jaguars game

Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars is not one of the sexiest “Thursday Night Football” matchups we could have asked for this week, but we do get to watch two of the most interesting quarterbacks in the league duke it out. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Gardner Minshew probably won’t be battling for league MVP this year, but they do have better facial hair than any other signal-caller in the league. Fitzpatrick is known for his long beard which protrudes from his facemask on Sundays, while Minshew’s patented mustache is a favorite of fans in Jacksonville. These facial hair styles are clearly as important to the quarterbacks as the teams they represent, and the two recently exchanged barbs with each other ahead of their matchup later this week.

“The mustache vs. the beard, I mean, I think the beard is the cooler look,” Fitzpatrick told reporters on Tuesday, via Ben Murphy of the Associated Press. “I think guys that grow mustaches a lot of times have patchy sides for their beards, so they just stick with the mustache. But my wife appreciates the mustache trimmed up a little bit more, but she does hate the beard too. So I guess that’s a lose-lose for me.”

When Minshew was asked for comment after Fitzpatrick made his opinion known, Minshew responded with a jab of his own.

“I’ll let mine speak for itself,” Minshew said, via ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “But I’m gonna have respect for my elders. Especially when they’re much, much elder.”

It’s true that Minshew is 13 years younger than Fitzpatrick, and he also has been playing like it. Through the first two games of 2020, the former sixth-round pick has completed 75.4 percent of his passes for 512 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. In the season-opening win against the Indianapolis Colts, Minshew completed 19 of 20 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns for a career-high 142.3 rating. It was an incredible performance, as he became the fourth quarterback in NFL history to complete 95 percent of his passes in a single game.

Fitzpatrick on the other hand has not registered a victory through the first two weeks, and has completed 60.4 percent of his passes for 519 yards two touchdowns and three interceptions so far. It’s the beard vs. the mustache this Thursday night in Jacksonville, and it should be a fun one. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:20 pm ET.