As the Jaguars desperately push for a second consecutive playoff berth, they’ll need to try to secure at least one win without starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
The 2021 No. 1 overall pick has been banged up a few times this season but will miss a game for the first time in his young NFL career due to a shoulder injury, the team announced.
Lawrence, 24, had made 49 consecutive starts, tying Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl-winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes for the second-longest active streak among NFL quarterbacks.
The third-year quarterback, to this point in 2023, has 3,736 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 65.5 percent of his passes.
C.J. Beathard will get the start in Lawrence’s place.
Lawrence hadn’t practiced all week and was injured during the Jags’ 30-12 Christmas Eve loss, where the Clemson alum dove on fourth-and-1 in an attempt to convert a fourth down.
While he subsequently threw a touchdown pass to receiver Calvin Ridley, he was later subbed off for Beathard, who recorded 94 passing yards and a touchdown while completing 11 of 15 passes in relief.
The Jaguars, who are in a three-way tie for first place — holding the tiebreak — in the AFC South with the Colts and Texans, will host the Panthers (2-13), who are limping to the finish line of the 2023 season.
They will end their season playing the Titans in Week 18, a road contest that could determine their playoff fate.
Now, with Jacksonville’s season on the line, Beathard, who turned 30 last month, will be making his first start since the last game of the 2020 season when he was playing for the 49ers.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound signal-caller has appeared in six games this season, completing 23 of 29 passes and accumulating 171 passing yards.
Overall in his career, the Jaguars’ backup has thrown for 3,708 career passing yards, 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, completing 60 percent of his passes.
He also has four career rushing touchdowns and 242 yards on the ground.