The Jacksonville Jaguars dodged a bullet on Monday night during their eventual overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, as quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffered a high ankle sprain instead of something much worse. When Lawrence went down in the fourth quarter, he was folded back awkwardly on his right leg, and needed assistance getting off the field.
Something that stood out about this injury was that Lawrence "walked" with trainers all the way from the field to the locker room. Where in the world was the cart to transport the franchise QB? On Wednesday, Lawrence addressed the situation, and defend his medical staff.
"We have an amazing medical staff that takes care of us in every way that you can imagine," Lawrence said. "Anything that we need, they're always there. They work pretty much around the clock to take care of us. So we got one of, if not the best in the league."
Lawrence then dove into the issue of the cart. As it turns out, he's the one that declined the ride.
"We talked about getting a cart, and I was gonna get a cart, and then I'm standing there. I'm already on the sideline at that point, the tunnel is right there. I just wanted to get off the field and get out of there. I didn't know what was going on with my ankle and I felt like I could get off. I was like, 'Hey, you're good. Just don't bring it out. I'm going in,'" Lawrence said.
"Then once I got in there, I'm like, 'This is a pretty long walk.' But I was already there, and they asked again if I wanted a cart and I'm like, 'No, we're going to make it the whole way there.' Didn't know there was cameras in the tunnel. Of course we have carts. We have everything we need, and I was the one that didn't choose to take one. You guys can put that on me. Maybe that was dumb, maybe I should have taken one, whatever. But it's nothing to do with us not having a cart available. I don't think that would happen in the National Football League, especially here with the crew that we have."
Lawrence has never missed a start in his NFL career (46 straight starts), and is doing everything he can -- rehabbing around the clock -- to give himself a chance to play this week against the Cleveland Browns, per The Athletic.
Lawrence had been on a tear before his injury, as he accounted for nine total touchdowns in the last three games. With the loss to the Bengals, the Jags missed on an opportunity to claim the No. 1 seed in the AFC entering Week 14. Instead, they are currently No. 4 in the conference at 8-4.
