Trevor Lawrence to have testing on knee, says he feels OK

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Trevor Lawrence said he will undergo further testing on his left knee Sunday night, but the Jaguars quarterback said his knee is bruised and he’s feeling OK.

However, he stopped short of saying he would be able to play in Thursday night’s game at the Saints.

“Feel pretty good,” Lawrence said after the Jaguars claimed sole possession of first place in the AFC South by beating Indianapolis 37-20 at EverBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon. “Walking around all right. I can’t really say much now but want to make sure everything’s checked out before [the game against the Saints].

“… It’s a little bit bruised, too, so just trying to kind of sort through what it is now.”

Lawrence was hurt on a third-and-7 play from the Indianapolis 16-yard line with 3:10 remaining. He faked a pitch to the right to Travis Etienne, rolled left and was chased down by Colts defensive end Samson Ebukam at the 33-yard line.

Lawrence immediately grabbed his left knee and stayed down for a moment. He walked off the field and went to the bench, where team physician Kevin Kaplan examined his knee. Lawrence got up and walked around after several minutes and remained on the sideline for the rest of the game, participated in postgame handshakes and attended his postgame news conference without a wrap or brace on the knee.

“I just felt some discomfort in my knee, and I went down,” Lawrence said. “I don’t know if it was twisted or landed on or what. I kind of felt it right away and then kind of put a little pressure on it. I realized I could get up, so I was just trying to get up and get off the field.”

Head coach Doug Pederson defended the play call by offensive coordinator Press Taylor, saying the Jaguars were trying to get a first down and be able to run out the clock. The Jaguars’ run game had been nonexistent in the fourth quarter — Etienne had five carries for 0 yards — and Pederson said the rollout pass has been a consistently successful play for the offense.

“That call is in the game plan because it’s a movement play,” Pederson said. “It allows the quarterback to get on the edge. In situations like that, you’ve seen it work a million times. [The last time] it didn’t work. We were able to get three points out of it. From that standpoint it was effective.

“Look, is there a little bit of risk there to run your quarterback? Yes. But at the same time, the reward is you get the first down, and you stay on the field and ice the game in those situations. Definitely wouldn’t change the scenario or the situation. We can coach that a little bit better and ask him maybe to go down a little bit sooner.”

Brandon McManus kicked a 51-yard field goal on the next play after Lawrence was hurt to put the Jaguars ahead 37-20. Backup quarterback C.J. Beathard played the Jaguars’ final possession and took three consecutive knees.

Receiver Christian Kirk, who caught one of Lawrence’s two touchdown passes, said he’s not concerned that Lawrence could potentially miss Thursday’s game in New Orleans.

“Not at all,” Kirk said. “He’s tough. He’s dealing with whatever he’s dealing with but pretty sure he’ll be all right.”