As the Jaguars look to stop the bleeding of their four-game losing streak and hold on to their first-place position in the AFC South, they’ll be doing so without Trevor Lawrence. The franchise quarterback has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers due to an injury to his right shoulder, the team announced. In his place, C.J. Beathard will start for Jacksonville.
Lawrence had not practiced this week due to the injury, which head coach Doug Pederson confirmed to reporters Tuesday was a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder. The 24-year-old injured himself in the closing minutes of the third quarter in last week’s loss to the Buccaneers, but did finish out the drive that ended in a passing touchdown to Calvin Ridley.
Beathard played the entire fourth quarter and is now slated to start in Week 17. Jacksonville also added to its QB room this week by signing veteran Matt Barkley off the Giants’ practice squad, the team announced Tuesday.
This marks the first game in his NFL career that Lawrence has missed due to injury after playing despite being banged up in recent weeks. On top of this latest shoulder injury, the former No. 1 overall pick was questionable for last Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay due to a concussion. He also had been dealing with an ankle injury he suffered back in Week 13 against the Bengals.
“We know this game is a physical and it is a tough, violent sport, and injuries are going to happen and especially to the quarterback position. All of the injuries that he has sustained are all hits, all contact stuff,…
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