Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffered a sprained right shoulder in Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and his availability for Week 17 is unclear, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday.
Rapoport added that it’s not believed to be a major injury to his throwing shoulder, but it’s unclear how this affects his availability against the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 31.
Lawrence appeared to injure his throwing shoulder at the end of a run late in the third quarter, having stretched his right arm out as he was bracing his fall on the sideline. He stayed in the game for the remainder of the drive and threw a touchdown, but did not come back out for Jacksonville’s next possession, being replaced by C.J. Beathard.
This is the third injury Lawrence has dealt with this season, as he’s already playing through a high ankle sprain and entered concussion protocol after Week 15, being cleared the day before Sunday’s loss.
Despite the injury issues this season, Lawrence is still holding a 49-game streak of starts to begin his NFL career, having never missed a game over almost three full seasons. Whether that streak ends with this latest injury is yet to be seen, but he’ll have a week to get as healthy as he can to try to play in a pivotal game versus the Panthers.
With two games to go this year, Jacksonville is just holding on to a lead in the AFC South, holding tiebreakers over both the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts, who have the same 8-7 record.
