Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence sustains bruised knee late in win over Colts, to undergo more testing
The Jaguars will host the Saints on Thursday, which doesn’t leave Lawrence much time to recover
Trevor Lawrence should be fine.
The Jacksonville quarterback went down due to a knee injury in the final minutes of the Jaguars' 37-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. He said after the game that his knee was bruised but he didn’t think the injury was serious.
“[I] feel pretty good,” he said, via ESPN’s Michael DiRocco. “Walking around all right. I can’t really say much now but want to make sure everything’s checked out before [Thursday’s game against the New Orleans Saints] … It’s a little bit bruised, too, so just trying to kind of sort through what it is now.”
Lawrence went to scramble left with just more than three minutes left in the game when he was brought down in the backfield by Colts defensive end Samson Ebukam, who grabbed Lawrence’s left knee and twisted a bit as they hit the turf.
Lawrence immediately reached for his knee but eventually walked off the field on his own.
#Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence grabs at his knee after getting taken down on this play.
pic.twitter.com/pyhhfEQRxD— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 15, 2023
As that was a third down, Lawrence didn’t need to be replaced. Backup quarterback C.J. Beathard then came in for the final drive of the game, on which he kneed the ball down to eat the rest of the clock and seal the 17-point win.
"I just felt some discomfort in my knee, and I went down," Lawrence said, via ESPN. "I don't know if it was twisted or landed on or what. I kind of felt it right away and then kind of put a little pressure on it. I realized I could get up, so I was just trying to get up and get off the field."
Lawrence will undergo further testing to determine the severity of his injury.
Although Lawrence didn’t need to be running in the first place, as the Jaguars were up big with just minutes left while inside the red zone, head coach Doug Pederson stood by the play-call after the game. Pederson said he has seen it work “a million times” in the past, and Jacksonville's run game had struggled elsewhere in the fourth quarter.
“Look, is there a little bit of a risk there to run your quarterback? Yes,” Pederson said, via ESPN. “But at the same time, the reward is you get the first down, and you stay on the field and ice the game in those situations. Definitely wouldn’t change the scenario or the situation. We can coach that a little bit better and ask him maybe to go down a little bit sooner.”
Lawrence went 20-of-30 for 181 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in the win, which brought the Jaguars to 4-2 on the season. Travis Etienne had 55 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, and Christian Kirk had 49 yards and a touchdown on three catches.
The Jaguars will turn around and host the Saints on Thursday, which doesn’t leave Lawrence much time to recover. But it sounds like if it’s up to him, and his injury is as minor as he seems to think, Lawrence should be fine come Thursday.
