The Jacksonville Jaguars have picked a terrible time to go on a slide. Their loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16 was their fourth in a row, which is the second longest streak currently in the NFL behind only the Washington Commanders, who are on a six-game losing streak.
The Jaguars, who once looked like a lock for the postseason, have seen their playoff hope dim every week. They will need to figure things out in the final two weeks of the season or risk blowing their AFC South divisional lead, similar to what happened last season to the Tennessee Titans when Jacksonville took advantage to win.
To make matters worse, the Jaguars could be without their starting quarterback, Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence, who was already battling through a high ankle sprain suffered in Week 13 against the Cincinnati Bengals, suffered another injury against the Buccaneers.
NFL News & Rumors: Trevor Lawrence, Doug Pederson, Jacksonville Jaguars Updates
As shared by Michael DiRocco of ESPN, Lawrence is now dealing with a sprained AC joint in his right throwing shoulder. That has put his status for Week 17 against the Carolina Panthers in major jeopardy.
Head coach Doug Pederson said Lawrence has been getting better in the early part of the week, but he is unsure that his starter will be able to practice. He didn’t practice after injuring his ankle, either, so getting on the field doesn’t necessarily mean that he won’t play.
“Obviously he’s a little bit sore but doing better today than he did yesterday,” Pederson said Tuesday afternoon. “We’ll see where he is at again tomorrow.
“May do a little something tomorrow but I would doubt that just because it’s a little bit too soon, but we’ll see as the week goes on.”
He was injured on a fourth-and-1 in the third quarter when he dove and stretched for a first down before being pushed by Buccaneers’ linebacker Yaya Diaby. Once it happened, Lawrence knew that some sort of injury had occurred.
“When I landed, I knew something was off,” Lawrence said. “And the next play it kind of hurts to throw. I wanted to finish the drive out and we were able to get some points, and then on the 2-point [conversion attempt] could tell by the way I threw it I couldn’t really get my shoulder up good enough to really keep playing.
NFL News & Rumors: Trevor Lawrence, Doug Pederson, Jacksonville Jaguars Updates
“I would’ve loved to have stayed in but just kind of hurting everybody at that point if I do, so they made the call to just take a seat the rest of the night.”
The No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft has yet to miss a game in his NFL career, proving to be one of the tougher players at the position. He finished that drive, completing 4-of-5 passes despite the injury.
If Lawrence is unable to go in Week 17, the Jaguars will likely turn to C.J. Beathard as their starter. Beathard came in for relief against Tampa Bay, completing 11-of-15 passes for 94 yards and one touchdown.
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