These next two weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be doing plenty of scoreboard watching. Which means we’ll be doing lots of injury report watching. Among the most significant injuries to monitor this week is the status of Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, who suffered a sprain AC joint in his throwing shoulder in Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Per head coach Doug Pederson via ESPN’s Michael DiRocco, Lawrence will at the least be limited throughout practice this week and isn’t guaranteed to play this weekend against the Carolina Panthers. Pederson admitted that it’s unlikely Lawrence will practice Wednesday with backup C.J. Beathard getting first-team reps in his place.
“May do a little something tomorrow but I would doubt that just because it’s a little bit too soon, but we’ll see as the week goes on,” Pederson said via DiRocco.
Lawrence left Sunday’s blowout loss to the Buccaneers in the third quarter. He finished the day 17-of-29 for 211 yards, one touchdown, and two picks as the Jaguars dropped their fourth-straight game, 30-12. Beathard replaced him, throwing for 95 yards and one touchdown.
Lawrence was injured while running in the third quarter. Shoved out of bounds, he landed hard on his right shoulder. After initially staying in, he was removed from the game.
After the game, Lawrence told reporters the injury was too limiting, causing the team to remove him from the game. The former No. 1 overall draft pick has battled injuries throughout the year, and he cleared concussion protocol just in time to play in the Buccaneers’ game.
Once among the top teams in the AFC, the Jaguars have lost their last four games, dropping to 8-7 in a jumbled AFC South. Still, the Jaguars will play a key role in determining Pittsburgh’s playoff chances. As we outlined yesterday, the easiest and most realistic path for the Steelers to make the playoffs requires the Jaguars to lose at least one of their final two games. After playing the Panthers this week, they’ll take on the Tennessee Titans in Week 18.
While the Steelers still must take care of business by winning their final two games, this is a situation worth watching throughout the week.
