Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence explained Wednesday why he wasn’t carted off after suffering a high-ankle sprain during the team’s Week 13 “Monday Night Football” loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
During the fourth quarter of the “MNF” contest, Jags fans were sent into panic mode when their franchise signal-caller’s right ankle was accidentally rolled up on and stepped on, sending him crumbling to the ground. Lawrence was initially helped to his feet by wide receiver teammate Zay Jones and Bengals Pro Bowl defensive end Trey Hendrickson, but after taking a couple of steps, he went back down.
When the former No. 1 overall pick realized how serious his injury could be, he slammed his right fist to the ground and flung his helmet off to the side.
Many prime-time viewers were rightfully confused as to why Lawrence wasn’t being carted off the field and into the locker room, but as noted, he has a history of avoiding serious injury on plays that looked devastating.
The Jaguars had a chance to jump into the No. 1 spot in the AFC when they faced Cincinnati, but a brilliant performance by Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning propelled his team to a 34-31 overtime victory.
The Jaguars still lead the AFC South at 8-4 but are only one game ahead of both the Houston Texans (7-5) and Indianapolis Colts (7-5). Jacksonville has a huge Week 14 contest at 1 p.m. Sunday against the Cleveland Browns on the road, and despite the ankle injury, head coach Doug Pederson hasn’t ruled out Lawrence for the tilt.
Since his worst game of the year during the team’s 34-3 loss against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 10, the Clemson product has turned it up over the last three matches. From Weeks 11-13, Lawrence has not only led the team to a 2-1 mark, but he’s gone 69-of-99 (69.6%) for 884 passing yards, five touchdowns and one interception, while adding his first four rushing touchdowns of the campaign.
