TAMPA, Fla. — First, an ankle injury. Next, a concussion. Now, an injured shoulder. The durable Trevor Lawrence keeps getting banged up, and it’s costing the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Lawrence, who cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol just in time to play Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ended up leaving in the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury as the Jaguars lost 30-12.
Lawrence 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.
The third-year quarterback, who has never missed a game, said was hurt diving for a first down on a fourth-play late in the third quarter during Jacksonville’s first scoring drive.
“Reached for the first down and got hit out of bounds and just landed on it,” Lawrence said. “When I landed, I knew something was off. The next play, it kind of hurts to throw. I just wanted to finish the drive out. The 2-point (try), you just could tell by the way I threw it that I couldn’t really get my shoulder up good enough to really keep playing.”
C.J. Beathard replaced Lawrence with 13 1/2 minutes to play and Jacksonville trailing 30-6.
Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said the injury was serious enough that Lawrence couldn’t continue playing. Lawrence will be evaluated on Monday.
Lawrence went 17 for 29 for 211 yards. All three of his turnovers led to Tampa Bay touchdowns.
The Jaguars believe Lawrence sustained a head injury while scrambling up the middle on the team’s final drive of a 23-7 loss to Baltimore last weekend. He misfired on seven of his final eight passes after the hit, a stretch that raised concerns on the sideline. Lawrence reported symptoms after the game.
Lawrence, who entered the league as the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2021, practiced for the first time all week on Friday. He was cleared to play by team doctors and the league’s independent neurological consultant before traveling with the team to Tampa on Saturday.
There was precedent this season for players being cleared to play a week after entering the concussion protocol, with San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy, Cleveland receiver Amari Cooper and New Orleans receiver Chris Olave gaining clearance before their next games.
Lawrence’s painful month began on Dec. 4, when he suffered a high ankle sprain during an overtime loss to Cincinnati. He threw for three touchdowns in a loss at Cleveland six days later.
Despite Sunday’s one-sided defeat, Jacksonville (8-7) remains tied with the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans for the AFC South lead. Both the Colts and Texans lost on Sunday,
“We’ve got two games,” Lawrence said. “We’ve got to take care of business these next two weeks. It’s really bad that we’ve put this on the field the last three, four weeks. It’s a problem. You want to be playing your best at the end of the season and go into the postseason hopefully, and we’re playing our worst.
“We need to find answers, we’ve got to find answers quick.” Lawrence added. “There wasn’t much good to take from today.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
