Trevor Lawrence has never missed a game in his NFL career. Until Monday night, he’d only ever sat out a few mostly meaningless snaps due to injury.
Now, for the first time since before they drafted Lawrence first overall in 2021, the Jacksonville Jaguars are facing the likely scenario that it’ll be someone else under center when they hit the field Sunday.
Amidst a lot of hand-wringing and consternation about the possibility of the Jaguars being without Lawrence, backup quarterback C.J. Beathard offered a reminder: this isn’t his first rodeo.
“At the end of the day, this is my seventh year in the NFL,” Beathard said Monday night after he was thrust into action. “It’s not like I’m a young guy going in there. I’ve been in the situation before, started some games here and there. Yeah, I was ready to go.”
Beathard, 30, was picked in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers. In four seasons with the team, Beathard made 12 starts and threw 18 touchdowns with 13 interceptions. In his final year with the team, he had five touchdowns and no interceptions across two starts.
Now in his third season with the Jaguars, Beathard has made just 27 pass attempts with the team, 10 of which happened Monday.
“[We have] every ounce of confidence in the world,” Jaguars tight end Evan Engram said of Beathard after the game. “The way he stepped up and didn’t blink. He was himself, calm in the huddle, got us in the right spots, throws down the field.”
If the Jaguars are forced to turn to Beathard in Week 14, it’ll be a tall task for the long-time backup. He’ll face the Cleveland Browns, a team that has allowed the fewest passing yards, the fewest first downs, and fewest total yards in the NFL.
“He’s a veteran player,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said. “He’s played a lot of football. If he happens to be the guy, then we get behind him and support him.”
