This Trevor Lawrence kid might be OK after all.
Lawrence, the No. 1 overall choice this spring, outplayed Joe Burrow, the No. 1 overall choice in 2020, in the first half of Thursday night’s game. The Jaguars took a 14-0 lead into the locker room at halftime as the boo birds are out in Cincinnati.
It could have been worse for the Bengals.
Lawrence was stopped short by Logan Wilson on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 53 seconds remaining in the half. Bengals defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi was injured on the play and is questionable to return with a left knee injury.
Lawrence has completed 9 of 13 passes for 127 yards. His 52-yard pass to Laviska Shenault was completed as he rolled out at 14.5 mph, per NextGen stats, which is the fastest a quarterback has run completing a pass of at least 40 air yards over the past five seasons.
He also ran for 26 yards and a touchdown on five carries, while James Robinson gained 64 yards and scored a touchdown on 12 carries.
Jacksonville has 240 yards.
The Jaguars, though, had two significant injuries in the first half. Receiver DJ Chark fractured his left ankle on the third play, and right guard AJ Cann also is out for the rest of the game after injuring his knee. Ben Bartch replaced Cann.
The Bengals had 66 net yards on their first possession, stalling on an offensive pass interference penalty on rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Rookie kicker Evan McPherson followed by missing a 43-yard field goal wide left.
On their final four drives of the half, the Bengals gained only 31 yards.
Cincinnati has only four first downs and is 1-for-5 on third down.
Joe Mixon has five carries for 14 yards, and Burrow has completed 8 of 12 attempts for 95 yards.