By Hays Carlyon
Electric rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr. was out with a chest injury.
No Christian Kirk. The reliable receiver had exited with a shoulder injury.
Hey, at least there’s Gabe Davis.
Well, actually, Davis had also sustained a shoulder injury and was out too.
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was without the team’s top three receivers yet managed to give the team a final push.
Lawrence guided the Jaguars on an eight-play, 87-yard touchdown drive, throwing a 14-yard scoring pass to tight end Evan Engram with 1:48 to play in the fourth quarter. The touchdown tied the game with Green Bay at 27.
The gutsy effort was undone by the Jaguars defense, who surrendered a 64-yard drive which ended with a walk-off 24-yard field goal by Green Bay’s Brandon McManus in a 30-27 loss Sunday at EverBank Stadium.
Despite the loss, Lawrence’s fourth quarter deserves recognition. It’s another step in his development.
Lawrence opened the drive with a 12-yard pass to Engram, then connected with receiver Parker Washington for a 15-yard gain. Lawrence found running back D’Ernest Johnson for a 20-yard completion, before a 5-yarder to tight end Brenton Strange.
After an incompletion, Lawrence went to Strange again gaining 21 yards to the Packers 14-yard line. Lawrence threw incomplete before hitting Engram on a beautiful lofted ball for the 14-yard score.
The Jaguars had to run formations with two tight ends on the entire drive because of the mass attrition in the game at the receiver spot. That created a high level of difficulty.
Lawrence didn’t panic. He was decisive and accurate.
This was the kind of drive that in a victory would be a legacy-building moment for the 25-year-old Lawrence. However, the defense let him down on the final drive.
Lawrence was far from perfect on the day. The Jaguars didn’t pick up their initial first down until the 5:45 mark of the second quarter. Lawrence threw an interception and lost a fumble inside his own 5-yard line.
However, the touchdown drive to tie the game was the kind of clutch sequence that erases much of the mistakes. Few quarterbacks in the NFL could lose their top three wide receivers and then deliver an 87-yard touchdown drive all through the air to tie the game.
That’s superstar stuff.
Lawrence finished the game completing 21 of 32 passes for 308 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 104.7. He also ran for a 6-yard touchdown.
Jaguars coach Doug Pederson described the defeat as “devastating and heartbreaking.”
The loss dropped the Jaguars to 2-6 with games against Philadelphia, Minnesota, Detroit and Houston upcoming. The season is clearly on the brink.
There isn’t much to be positive about. The franchise quarterback having that moment late in the game certainly qualifies.
(You can email Hays at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter/X @HaysCarlyon)
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