After sitting out most of their starters in the preseason opener, the Jacksonville Jaguars wanted to give them an extended look against the Carolina Panthers in Week 2. However, the plan might have just changed following their joint practice.
Head coach Liam Coen originally wanted to play the starters in Week 2 of the preseason, but he's no longer sure in light of all the injuries the Jags are dealing with.
The Jaguars may not play their starters vs. the Panthers after all
Liam Coen met with reporters following the joint practice with Carolina. He said he isn't sure whether the starters will play in Week 2, noting that he wants to watch the tape before making a decision.
I don't wanna say either way yet. I really gotta go look at this tape, see how we kind of come out of it. I'll make a probably a decision, you know, over the next 24 hours," Coen told reporters. "Yeah, like I don't want to necessarily go out there with not your full group, right? Like the whole point of it is to try to get more continued continuity and chemistry and some game experience. So I'm just not quite sure yet."
On the other hand, Coen said later in the exchange that he was pleased with the team's performance, noting that they took a step in the right direction in terms of the running game and communication.
Currently, the Jaguars are missing Walker Little, Patrick Mekari, Cole Van Lanen, Ricky Lee, and Geron Christian. That's just on the offensive line. They're also missing linebackers Jalen McLeod and Jack Kiser.
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The Jaguars are better off sitting out Trevor Lawrence and the starters
The truth is that it never made sense to play the starters against the Panthers in light of all the injuries on the offensive line. Sure, the Jaguars just traded for right guard Daniel Faalele, but it's not a good idea to expose Trevor Lawrence to unnecessary injury risk, especially when you take into account that they lack depth at quarterback.
At this point, the best course of action is to hold out Lawrence. The downside is that he won't get work before the regular season. Sure, he's been part of the joint practice, but that doesn't recreate the feeling of sitting in the pocket and being rushed. But that's a much better alternative than the risk of losing him to injury.
That said, Coen hasn't truly ruled out playing the starters, so there's a chance we'll get to see Lawrence. However, fans will be holding their breath every time he drops back to throw.
The truth is that the drawbacks of playing the starters in Week 2 of the preseason outweigh the benefits, so the Jaguars are better off giving ample playing time to the second and third team when they welcome the Panthers at EverBank.
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