Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is practicing this week and hopes to play against the Texans on Sunday, but there remains much up in the air about what the next steps will be with his left shoulder injury.
Lawrence practiced on Monday and head coach Doug Pederson said the plan was for him to do the bulk of the first-team work Wednesday, which provides reason to hope that he’ll be able to return after missing two games. Lawrence said on Wednesday that his sprained AC joint “has been a pretty difficult thing to gauge” and that surgery is “not off the table at all” even though he is pushing to play.
“Hopefully I’m able to get back out there this week or as soon as possible and then it’s going to be just every week kind of evaluating it, seeing where it’s at,” Lawrence said, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. “Obviously up until this point I’ve been doing everything I can to avoid that and want to be back out there with my guys and finish the season. So that’s my goal.”
Mac Jones started the two games that Lawrence missed leading into the Jaguars’ bye and would be in line to start again if Lawrence isn’t able to go.
The Texans announced a pair of roster moves on Wednesday.
Cornerback Ka’dar Hollman has been placed on injured reserve after injuring his knee in last Sunday’s loss to the Titans. Hollman has to miss four games and Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports that Hollman suffered a season-ending torn ACL.
Hollman played seven games for the Texans after being signed off of the Ravens’ practice squad in October. He had 12 tackles and two passes defensed while seeing time on defense and special teams. Hollman also played in every game for the Texans last season and made three appearances for Baltimore early this year.
The Texans signed defensive tackle Tommy Togiai to the active roster to fill Hollman’s spot. Togiai has appeared in three games for Houston this season and has five tackles, a sack and two passes defensed.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence has missed the last two games with a left shoulder injury, but things appear to be trending in the direction of a return to action on Wednesday.
Lawrence practiced when the team returned from their bye week on Monday and head coach Doug Pederson said that session went well at his press conference on Wednesday. Pederson also said that Lawrence is set to do more during the team’s next practice.
“It’s encouraging,” Pederson said. “We’ll get through today obviously. I’m not going to commit, but it was a good start to the week. We’ll see how he handles much more of a workload today.”
Pederson said that the team will still get Mac Jones some work with the starters, but that the plan is for Lawrence to do the “bulk” of the work. If that goes off without a hitch, he’ll likely be doing all of it against the Texans this Sunday.
On back-to-back nights at SoFi Stadium, the two best running backs in the NFL showed what they can do. They showed it by racking up 395 rushing yards between them.
For Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, it was 255 yards against the Rams. For Ravens running back Derrick Henry, it was 140 against the Chargers.
Both were free agents in March. Both weren’t re-signed by their prior teams. Along with Packers running back Josh Jacobs (not re-signed by the Raiders), Texans running back Joe Mixon (traded by the Bengals in lieu of being cut), and Vikings running back Aaron Jones (cut by the Packers), five veteran tailbacks have found a second life in 2024.
The dynamic defies the notion that all running backs are interchangeable parts. For most, they are. Every year, every major college program has a tailback who can play at the next level.
But there’s a line between the average tailback and the great ones. Barkley, Henry, Jacobs, Mixon, and Jones are proving that older running backs who can play at a high level should be targeted by contenders hoping to goose their offenses. Given the copycat nature of the NFL, will that happen in 2025 free agency?
The problem is that the next free-agent class doesn’t have the same number of high-end players. Jones will be a free agent again. Cardinals running back James Conner is due to hit the market, as are Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins and Steelers running back Najee Harris. Browns running back Nick Chubb will be available, too.
Beyond that, no one stands out. Unless someone is cut or traded.
Any team thinking about doing that should think twice. That running back who’s about to be dumped could end up becoming one of 2025’s next big things.
The Texans are set to be without safety Jalen Pitre for an extended period of time.
Pitre left Sunday’s loss to the Titans with a pectoral injury and Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that he is expected to miss multiple weeks with a partial tear. Pitre does not need surgery at this time, but may need it at some point down the road.
Pitre only played 21 snaps on Sunday before leaving the game. He has 65 tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble in 12 games this season.
Calen Bullock, Eric Murray, and Jimmie Ward were the other safeties to see time for the Texans against Tennessee. They also have M.J. Stewart on the 53-man roster, but he only saw time on special teams this week.
