As the Jaguars look to stop the bleeding of their four-game losing streak and hold on to their first-place position in the AFC South, they'll be doing so without Trevor Lawrence. The franchise quarterback has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers due to an injury to his right shoulder, the team announced. In his place, C.J. Beathard will start for Jacksonville.
Lawrence had not practiced this week due to the injury, which head coach Doug Pederson confirmed to reporters Tuesday was a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder. The 24-year-old injured himself in the closing minutes of the third quarter in last week's loss to the Buccaneers, but did finish out the drive that ended in a passing touchdown to Calvin Ridley.
Beathard played the entire fourth quarter and is now slated to start in Week 17. Jacksonville also added to its QB room this week by signing veteran Matt Barkley off the Giants' practice squad, the team announced Tuesday.
This marks the first game in his NFL career that Lawrence has missed due to injury after playing despite being banged up in recent weeks. On top of this latest shoulder injury, the former No. 1 overall pick was questionable for last Sunday's game against Tampa Bay due to a concussion. He also had been dealing with an ankle injury he suffered back in Week 13 against the Bengals.
"We know this game is a physical and it is a tough, violent sport, and injuries are going to happen and especially to the quarterback position. All of the injuries that he has sustained are all hits, all contact stuff, and it is part of it," Pederson said earlier this week. "And that is his style and that is his aggressiveness, and he has been fortunate enough to bounce back from all of them. So we will see as he goes this week where he is at, but we have been fortunate that he has been able to be available every week so far."
This upcoming matchup with the Panthers is vital for Jacksonville in its hopes to win the division. Currently, the franchise is tied with the Colts and Texans at 8-7, but possesses the tiebreakers to maintain its edge in the standings. However, a loss down the stretch over the final two weeks could be enough to leave the door open for either Indy or Houston to leapfrog over them for the division crown. And not having Lawrence under center to fend them off is less than ideal.
According to SportsLine's Stephen Oh, the Jaguars now have just a 62% chance to beat the Panthers on Sunday and are now essentially a coin flip (52%) to win the division, which is a drop from the 66% chance they had with a healthy Lawrence. They also now own a 65% chance to make the playoff after previously sitting at a 75% chance if Lawrence was at 100%.
