The Jacksonville Jaguars have ruled out quarterback Trevor Lawrence for their pivotal Week 17 matchup with the Carolina Panthers, via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk.
Lawrence is nursing a shoulder injury he suffered during the Jaguars’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last weekend.
It has been a rough several weeks for Lawrence, who has been peppered with numerous different injuries. Back in Week 13, he sustained a high-ankle sprain in his team’s overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, but he managed to play through it. He then suffered a concussion during Jacksonville’s Week 15 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, but cleared protocol in time to play against the Buccaneers last Sunday.
Now, it unfortunately appears that Lawrence’s injury luck has run out, and at the worst possible time.
Earlier in the season, the Jags were 8-3 and appeared to be on their way to cruising to an AFC South division title. However, since then, they have lost four games in a row and looked absolutely lost last week against Tampa Bay in a 30-12 defeat.
The Jaguars are now locked in a three-way tie with the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans for first place, although Lawrence and Co. are still technically atop the division by way of the tiebreaker.
But the tiebreaker won’t mean much if Jacksonville doesn’t start winning some games.
On the bright side, the Jags will be playing the worst team in the NFL in the Panthers, and backup quarterback C.J. Beathard does have some starting experience under his belt from his days with the San Francisco 49ers.
That being said, with the way the Jaguars have been playing lately, even Carolina may represent a major challenge for the club.
Trevor Lawrence has thrown for 3,736 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 65.5 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 89.1 this season. It has been a rather disappointing year for the Clemson product, especially after his breakout 2022 campaign.
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