Jaguars’ Lawrence has sprained right AC joint

Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff WriterDec 26, 2023, 02:14 PM ET
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has a sprained right AC joint, leaving his status for Sunday’s game against the Panthers unclear.

Coach Doug Pederson said Lawrence is improving but he’s not sure if Lawrence will be able to practice Wednesday, which would mean backup quarterback C.J. Beathard would take the first-team reps again.

“Obviously he’s a little bit sore but doing better today than he did yesterday,” Pederson said Tuesday afternoon. “We’ll see where he is at again tomorrow.

“May do a little something tomorrow but I would doubt that just because it’s a little bit too soon, but we’ll see as the week goes on.”

The Jaguars also added some insurance at the quarterback position Tuesday, signing Matt Barkley off the New York Giants‘ practice squad.

Barkley hasn’t taken a snap in a game since 2020 and is 2-5 as a starter with the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills. He has appeared in 19 games and has 11 touchdown passes and 22 interceptions since he was drafted in the fourth round by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013.

To make room for him on the roster the team placed special teams standout Daniel Thomas on injured reserve with a broken left forearm.

Lawrence was hurt when he stretched and dove for a first down on the sideline on a fourth-and-1 play late in the third quarter of the Jaguars’ 30-12 loss at Tampa on Sunday. He was shoved by Bucs linebacker Yaya Diaby as he was diving and landed on his right shoulder out of bounds and slid into the Bucs’ bench area.

Lawrence stayed in the game to finish the drive, completing 4 of 5 passes, including an 18-yarder to Calvin Ridley for a touchdown.

“When I landed, I knew something was off,” Lawrence said. “And the next play it kind of hurts to throw. I wanted to finish the drive out and we were able to get some points, and then on the 2-point [conversion attempt] could tell by the way I threw it I couldn’t really get my shoulder up good enough to really keep playing.

“I would’ve loved to have stayed in but just kind of hurting everybody at that point if I do, so they made the call to just take a seat the rest of the night.”

Beathard finished the game and completed 11-of-15 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. He would start if Lawrence’s doesn’t play. Beathard hasn’t started a game since the 2020 regular-season finale when he was with the San Francisco 49ers. He has a 2-10 record as a starter, with all the starts coming with the 49ers.

Lawrence had completed 18 of 30 passes for 213 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions and lost a fumble before he left the Bucs game. Per ESPN Stats & Information research, that was Lawrence’s eighth career game with three-plus turnovers, which is three more than any other player since Lawrence entered the NFL in 2021. Josh Allen and Mac Jones have five games with three-plus turnovers.