After spraining his ankle, quarterback Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars is expected to play against the Cleveland Browns.
Although Lawrence skipped practice on Wednesday, he wouldn’t rule out playing against Cleveland (7-5), a game that could have a significant impact on the AFC wild-card race and the team’s postseason placement.
Lawrence suffered a right ankle injury late in Monday night’s 34-31 overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals when left tackle Walker Little stepped on him while he was being powered backward. Although the X-rays showed nothing abnormal, Lawrence was diagnosed with a high ankle sprain, which may require several weeks to heal.
Quarterbacks have previously experienced similar injuries; most recently, Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs participated in both the AFC championship game and the Super Bowl despite suffering a high ankle sprain.
The Jaguars (8-4) want to make sure Lawrence is healthy enough to handle what they anticipate will be a deep postseason run, though, as they lead the AFC South by a game over Houston and Indianapolis.
Coach Doug Pederson, “I don’t want to compare two injuries.” “Playing in a conference championship game as opposed to a regular-season game is two different things, but they are two different people.
The Chiefs clearly believed that Mahomes was good and couldn’t injure himself any more. We want to make sure he can avoid reinjuring himself before we start him on the field this week.”
In Week 6, Lawrence injured his left knee against Indianapolis, but he was back on the field four days later against New Orleans. In a 31-24 victory, he not only performed admirably but also threw for 204 yards and a touchdown in addition to running for a career-high 59 more.
Lately, Lawrence has been performing at his peak. He made franchise history by becoming the first player to score at least one touchdown in both passing and rushing in three straight weeks against the Bengals.
“I’m trying to do as much as I can each day without aggravating it or making anything worse,” said Lawrence. However, I’m working to get closer to maybe playing. To try to get as healthy as possible is the weekly and daily objective.
And it’s healing up really well; I’m really happy with the big steps it’s made over the last 48 hours. So let’s wait and see. I’m going to take my time and make sure everything is done correctly because I obviously can’t answer at this time.”
C.J. Beathard would make his 13th NFL start and first since 2020 with San Francisco if Lawrence is unable to play. Beathard’s starting record is 2–10.
Beathard’s non-throwing shoulder injury, however, prevented him from participating fully in practice on Wednesday. Though he hopes to accomplish more on Thursday and Friday, he would ultimately rather see Lawrence play against the Browns.
“He is aware of his body. Beathard remarked, “His knows himself better than anybody on this team.” As I do every other week, I’m just going to get ready as if I’m ready, and if the chance arises, I’ll be in there and ready to go. If it doesn’t, though, I won’t even blink.
“I want him to be healthy and play and play well.”
