Banged up all season, Jaguars QB Lawrence is now dealing with a sprained throwing shoulder
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder, but coach Doug Pederson says he could practice later this week.
Pederson says Lawrence “is progressing” and “he’s a little bit sore.”
“Doing better today than he did yesterday,” Pederson said Tuesday. “We'll see where he’s at again tomorrow.”
The Jaguars (8-7) host Carolina (2-13) on Sunday, with Jacksonville trying to end a four-game losing streak and keep alive hopes of making the postseason for the second time in as many seasons.
Lawrence has started 51 consecutive games since the Jags drafted him with the first overall pick in the 2021 draft. He's been banged up as never before of late, dealing with a sprained knee, a sprained ankle, a concussion and now a sprained shoulder.
Lawrence landed on his right shoulder while diving for a first down on a fourth-and-1 play in the third quarter of Sunday's 30-12 loss at Tampa Bay. He could barely lift his arm in the locker room after the game.
He was ineffective before he got hurt, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble as Jacksonville fell behind 30-0 on the way to its fourth straight loss. Lawrence completed 17 for 29 passes for 211 yards, and all three of his turnovers led to Tampa Bay touchdowns.
Lawrence’s frustration seemed to reach a new high after the game.
“It looks like we don’t even practice,” Lawrence said. "The stuff that we’re doing, we look lost, no sense of urgency. I mean the list goes on and on. I feel like we have good weeks of preparation and I feel like we’re prepared going into games and then something happens on gameday the last month where it just all just falls apart.
“We’ve got to figure that out. We’re all in it together. This is our season. We’ve worked hard to be in this position, and we’re close to (throwing) it away, so we’ve got to figure it out.”
Lawrence has eight turnovers (five interceptions, three fumbles) in Jacksonville's past three games, giving him 23 touchdowns (19 passing, four rushing) and 19 turnovers (12 INTs, seven fumbles) on the season.
He's been plagued by a porous offensive line that has struggled to create holes and keep Lawrence upright. Adding to the team's woes, receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones have missed time, and their backups don't seem to be on the same page with the quarterback.
“The one thing that I know being around this league (is) everybody wants to point the finger somewhere,” Pederson said. "We’ve got to do a better job at taking care of the football. It’s not about the plays. We've got to tackle better and we got to take care of the football, bottom line.
“Those give us a chance to win football games. If we don’t, then we’re going to be sitting here talking about this again. To me, that’s the glaring differences right now between winning and losing.”
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