CLEVELAND, Ohio – Trevor Lawrence felt OK about one thing late Sunday.
Not about losing. Or about how the offense played. But the Jaguars’ third-year quarterback said his right ankle felt OK following a long, physical game.
“I felt pretty good, all things considered,” he said.
Lawrence, who has started 47 consecutive games since the Jaguars selected him No. 1 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, started and played the entire game Sunday with a high-ankle sprain six days after limping from the field in the fourth quarter of an overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football.
Lawrence, who did not practice Wednesday, practiced limited Thursday and Friday. The Jaguars announced he would start less than two hours before kickoff Sunday. He completed 28 of 50 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions.
“I didn’t reinjure my ankle, or tweak or anything,” Lawrence said. “That was a positive out of today. I guess that’s the only one. I felt pretty good. It held up.
“I was able to move when needed. It was good.”
The Jaguars, after falling behind 14-0 in the first half Sunday, rallied three times to within a touchdown – 14-7, 21-7 and 28-21 – but couldn’t tie. They committed four turnovers, with both second-half turnovers – a list fumble by wide receiver Parker Washington and an interception thrown by Lawrence – leading to touchdowns that moved the Browns’ lead to 14.
The Jaguars were playing without wide receiver Christian Kirk, their leading receiver in yards this season who was placed on injured reserve with a groin injury Friday. They also played much of the game with their fourth left tackle of the season: Blake Hance, who replaced Ezra Cleveland after Cleveland left with a first-half knee injury.
Cleveland was playing for injured Walker Little (hamstring), who had been starting for injured starter Cam Robinson (knee).
“There’s no excuses,” Jaguars tight end Evan Engram said. “We have to find a way to look at this as a team, to figure it out and get it done. Everybody’s level has to go up.”
The Jaguars scored on all four red-zone possessions Sunday but scored just seven points on four first-half possessions in Browns territory.
“It was not one of our cleaner games,” Lawrence said. “We were just so inconsistent. It was hard to get in a rhythm. All the close plays you need to get some momentum back in games, seemed like all those we weren’t able to make today.
“Walking off the field, I felt like we missed so many opportunities and left a lot out there. Really just shot ourselves in the foot, over and over. We gave them short fields a bunch. You can’t play that way and win typically. We still had a shot and gave ourselves an opportunity, but it was too little too late at that point.”