JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Trevor Lawrence says he’s planning ahead as if he is playing on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. He’s just not taking snaps in practice.
On Wednesday, head coach Doug Pederson said that the injury, initially thought to be a knee, then an ankle or foot is instead a sprained big toe on Lawrence’s left foot. Pederson called Lawrence’s status, “Day-to-day.”
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“Obviously, when it’s your quarterback or any player, there’s a level of concern,” Pederson said. “We still have several days before the game, but he’s tough and he’ll do everything he can I know in his power to try to be out there. We’ll just take it day by day.”
After Pederson’s comments, the Jaguars practiced with C.J. Beathard taking the starter’s reps with Lawrence, “watching and listening.”
It’s an unusual position for Lawrence, who said he hasn’t missed a practice since being sidelined under COVID protocols his junior year at Clemson. He’ll do his best to prepare without taking practice snaps for the time being.
“Our offense is what it is,” Lawrence said. “We do a lot of things week-to-week that changes, but it’s mostly about seeing the looks, practicing calling the plays, going through my footwork, my steps, all my checks, whether that’s run game, passing game, all of those things so I’m sharp mentally, so when I do come back on the field, it’s not something that I have to catch up on because I already have the reps in my head. I’m going to completely stay in it mentally. You can get a lot of the work that way.”
If Lawrence can’t play on Sunday, the Jaguars would turn to veteran backup C.J. Beathard, who has thrown five passes in two seasons with the Jaguars.
Pederson expressed confidence in Beathard and Lawrence said that he sees Beathard prepare each week as if he was starting, but this adds a new wrinkle into Beathard’s planning. He said he hasn’t taken as many snaps in practice as he did on Wednesday in more than two years.
“There’s nothing that changes. You still have to watch the same amount of film. It’s not like, ‘I’m starting, now I have to watch more film,’” Beathard said. “You should be watching enough film that if something were to happen to (the starter), you should pick up right in there. The only benefit of it is that I’m getting actual practice reps. If (an injury) happened in a game, I would get those reps.”
The Jaguars are coming off their worst loss of the year, a 40-14 drubbing by the Lions in Detroit. Pederson says he’s approaching this week as if the Jaguars are still in the playoff hunt, which they are mathematically, and he’s expecting a better performance.
“It’s going to be my job this week to make sure everybody’s on point,” Pederson said. “That’s not who we are last week. I know that’s not who Tennessee is in the game they had last week. Two teams that are probably a little upset coming together. It should be a good football game.”
Tennessee is also dealing with some key injuries. The Titans listed 13 players on the injury report on Wednesday, including quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who was limited with an ankle injury. Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons was also limited with an ankle injury. Rookie wide receiver Treylon Burks did not practice. He’s in the concussion protocol.
Still, the Jaguars haven’t beaten the Titans in Nashville since 2013. So bouncing back with a win this week is a tall task.
“It’s important to have a short-term memory in this league,” said Jaguars’ wide receiver Christian Kirk. “Just like last week, coming off a big win, you have to put that stuff away and focus on the next week. Sunday showed when you don’t focus on the following what can happen.”