JACKSONVILLE – He walked to the podium, bootless and smiling.
This was quarterback Trevor Lawrence Wednesday afternoon as the Jaguars began preparing to play the Cleveland Browns Sunday – two days after he sustained a high-ankle sprain in a Monday Night Football loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
"I feel a lot better," Lawrence said.
Lawrence, like Head Coach Doug Pederson minutes earlier, offered no prediction on his status for Sunday as he made his first public appearance – and first comments – since his injury.
"Player health, that's the biggest thing," Pederson said as the Jaguars (8-4) prepared to play the Browns (7-5) at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, Sunday at 1 p.m. "As a medical staff and head coach, we're not going to put players on the field that aren't 100 percent, that aren't healthy, that could maybe even further risk more damage to the area that's injured.
"It's our jobs to protect those players and make sure it's not at the cost of winning a football game."
Lawrence, who never has missed a start in 46 games in three NFL seasons, sustained the injury when he was sacked with 5:25 remaining in a 34-31 overtime loss to the Bengals at EverBank Stadium Monday.
"I feel a lot better than I would've thought I'd feel," Lawrence said. "I'm very fortunate. I'm thankful that it wasn't a worse injury what I kind of thought it was on the field. I'm just thankful and I appreciate all the people, the thoughts and prayers.
"Thankfully it wasn't anything serious. That stuff means a lot and it worked. I'm feeling good, so I'm thankful for that."
Lawrence tried to get up and walk following the sack, then threw his helmet down while on his knees. He walked from the field to the locker room with assistance, heavily favoring the injured ankle.
"I kind of felt something down on my ankle and was definitely concerned about that," Lawrence said. "Then obviously trying to get up, I had some pain there. I was concerned that it was worse and I'm thankful that I made it out cleaner than I probably should have."
Lawrence, the No. 1 overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, twice in the last two seasons has played the following week after sustaining significant injuries. He played following a Week 13 toe injury against the Detroit Lions in 2022, leading the Jaguars to five consecutive victories and the AFC South title.
He sustained a knee injury this season in a Week 6 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, playing four days later in a Week 7 Thursday victory at New Orleans. Lawrence rushed for a season-high 59 yards on eight carries in the victory over the Saints.
"The team's always the priority," Lawrence said. "We had obviously the same conversations before the New Orleans game earlier in the season. I'll never put myself or the team in a position to where we're at a higher risk or we're not going to play our best because I'm not able to do my job.
"Those are all questions you have to answer throughout the course of the week. For me, it's just doing everything I can every second of the day to get back as soon as possible, whenever that is. That's the whole thought process behind everything."
Lawrence, who noted that he has two more days this week to recover than when he played against the Saints in October, called the past 48 hours "big steps."
"It's still early in the week," he said. "New Orleans, I didn't know until right before the game. That was a really short week, so we'll have a couple more days than we did then. That's nice, but we still lost a day playing on Monday night.
"I'm really just taking it one day at a time. I'm trying to do as much as I can each day without aggravating it, or making anything worse, but trying to progress towards playing. I'm really happy with how it's healing up.
"I'm just going to take my time and do everything right with the medical people and trainers and in the weight room. I just want to check every box that I can to try to be able to play on Sunday."
NOTABLE
Wide receiver Christian Kirk as expected missed practice Wednesday with a groin injury sustained Monday, with Pederson on Tuesday saying Kirk is out this week. Kirk and Lawrence were among five Jaguars players missing practice Wednesday, with the others being cornerback Tre Herndon (concussion), tight end Brenton Strange (foot) and left tackle Walker Little (hamstring). Herndon and Little were injured Monday, with Strange missing that game. Seven Jaguars players practiced limited Wednesday: Quarterback C.J. Beathard (shoulder), cornerback Tyson Campbell (quadricep), safety Andre Cisco (shoulder), running back Travis Etienne Jr. (ribs), defensive lineman Foley Fatukasi (heel), running back D'Ernest Johnson (knee) and wide receiver Zay Jones (knee).
