Former NFL doctor gives initial prognosis of Trevor Lawrence injury

Just as the Jacksonville Jaguars were giving the Buffalo Bills a run for their money, the Jaguars’ worst nightmare nearly came to fruition as rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence went down with an ankle injury.

Lawrence, the first-overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, dropped back and threw a pass, and it appeared as if one of his offensive linemen stepped on his ankle after the throw. He fell to the ground before being helped off the field. Lawrence did not go to the medical tent, instead going straight to the Jaguars locker room.

Luckily for the Jaguars, Lawrence returned a few plays later, sending backup C.J. Beathard back to the bench. Before his return, however, former NFL doctor David Chao took to Twitter to provide an initial prognosis on Lawrence’s injury.

“By video, right lower leg kicked by heal of his own backup left tackle,” Chao said on Twitter. “Hoping X-rays negative and more pain/contusion than injury with possible return in 2nd half.”

The Jaguars had listed Lawrence as questionable to return to Sunday’s game. He was 11 of 15 for 80 yards along with two rushing yards before suffering the injury. The Jaguars and Bills were tied 6-6 when he left the game.

Now, well after Lawrence’s return, the Jaguars and the Bills are still knotted up at six apiece. Beathard completed his only two pass attempts for 33 passing yards in relief of Lawrence, who was having his leg attended to in the locker room, but did not score a touchdown. He has since completed a pass after his return; at the time of publication, Lawrence is 12-of-16 with 89 passing yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.

Lawrence is Jacksonville’s future

Lawrence, selected by the Jaguars with the first-overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, had 1,703 passing yards on a 59.6 completion rate entering Sunday’s game with the Bills, while adding eight passing touchdowns and nine interceptions.

While at Clemson, Lawrence led Clemson to a national championship as a true freshman in 2018 after throwing for over 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns, enough to earn him freshman All-America honors and the ACC Rookie of the Year award.

Although Clemson fell to Alabama in the national championship game his sophomore year, Lawrence continued to show strides in 2019, throwing for over 3,600 yards and a career-high 36 touchdowns. He became the second Heisman Trophy finalist in program history in 2020 following another excellent campaign; this time, Lawrence finished an abbreviated 2020 season with an average of 315.3 passing yards per game, breaking a program record of 306.2, previously set by Deshaun Watson mark in 2016.