The Jacksonville Jaguars offered no official update on quarterback Trevor Lawrence after a 34-31 loss Monday night. While initial reports indicated the third-year passer sprained his ankle, an MRI on Tuesday will determine the severity.
In the mean time, it seems that it’ll be up to backup C.J. Beathard to keep the Jaguars in playoff contention.
“We got 100 percent confidence in C.J.,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said after the game. “He did a nice job getting us down the field there, tying the football game. Should have been the game-winning field goal, but it wasn’t. Got a lot of confidence in C.J. He’s a veteran player. He’s played a lot of football. If he happens to be the guy, then we get behind him and support him.”
After taking over late in the fourth quarter, Beathard finished Monday with nine completions on 10 pass attempts for 63 yards. He fumbled once, but the Jaguars were able to get the ball back, and Beathard connected on a 43-yard pass to Calvin Ridley in overtime that was nullified by a holding penalty.
“C.J. came in and fought his ass off and put us in position to win,” Jaguars tight end Evan Engram said. “[He] made a great throw at the end—unfortunate call. Yeah but, obviously [Lawrence] is our leader, but next man up mentality is the nature of the beast.
“[We have] every ounce of confidence in the world [in Beathard]. 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. Now, we’ll have a week of preparation.”
“We play C.J. all the time in practice, so we know he’s a very capable quarterback,” Jaguars linebacker Foye Oluokun added. “We’re just trying to find a way to win. Obviously, our prayers went out for Trevor, but we were trying to find a way to win that game.”
Beathard, 30, began his career with the San Francisco 49ers where he started 12 games over his first four NFL seasons. He threw 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in San Francisco and posted a 2-10 record as a starter.
Since signing with the Jaguars in 2021, Beathard hasn’t made a start and had 17 pass attempts in three seasons prior to Monday.
