The Jacksonville Jaguars will carry a familiar quarterback on the active roster for Sunday’s season opener against the Cleveland Browns, even though that player spent the first part of the week on the practice squad.
On Saturday, the team announced that Nick Mullens had been elevated via a standard practice-squad move, one of the three such elevations permitted for him this season.
The decision is less about Mullens suddenly becoming the future of the position and more about simple timing. Jacksonville acquired Quinn Ewers from the Miami Dolphins during the preseason and expected the former Texas quarterback to settle in as Trevor Lawrence’s primary backup.
Two weeks, however, is a short window to absorb Liam Coen’s offense at the depth required to step in if Lawrence were to leave a game. Mullens already spent last season in that same offense.
He appeared in five games without starting, completing all three of his pass attempts for 19 yards, and that institutional knowledge now outweighs Ewers’ higher long-term ceiling for one early-season afternoon.
Mullens is not a flashy insurance policy. His career record as a starter sits at 5-15, with 34 touchdown passes and 31 interceptions. Those numbers explain why the Jaguars were willing to take a flier on Ewers in the first place.
At the same time, Mullens has completed 66 percent of his career attempts and went 5-for-5 across brief appearances in 2024 with Minnesota and 2025 with Jacksonville.
If he is forced into action, Jacksonville would almost certainly simplify the playbook rather than ask him to operate the full menu Lawrence runs.
That modest adjustment is still preferable, at least for Week 1, to handing the keys to a quarterback who has barely unpacked.
The Jaguars would of course prefer the conversation remain academic. Lawrence has been durable enough that Mullens never had to start last year, and Cleveland is not the sort of opponent that should require a mid-game quarterback change. Still, NFL rosters are built for the unexpected.
Elevating a player who already speaks the language of the offense is the conservative, practical choice while Ewers continues to catch up. Once that process is complete, the depth chart behind Lawrence will likely look different.
For Sunday, it looks like last year’s backup getting another chance to stand on the sideline in case he is needed.
