Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence feeling better, still bothered by shoulder injury

The Jacksonville Jaguars are getting healthy just in time for the season finale. Trevor Lawrence and Christian Kirk returned to practice Wednesday albeit on a limited basis. While it's uncertain if they'll play in the divisional game against the Tennessee Titans, they're making progress in their respective recoveries.

Lawrence told the local media he's feeling better. He added that he's trying to stay aggressive in his recovery without being reckless.

"It's feeling better. Missing last week's game, it's slower than I would have liked it to be progressing, but it actually feels pretty decent today," Lawrence said. "It's getting better every day, so just trying to be cautious, but also, I guess aggressive and how I'm trying to treat it and just everything I can to get back as quick as possible but also be smart. It's a fine line. But yeah, I'm feeling better."

Lawrence went on to say that he was going to test his shoulder in practice, noting that he needs to shake off the rust from not playing last week.

"I'll be out there today. We'll just have to see how I'm feeling. I'm going to try to do some stuff and then see how it feels. And I need to move around though and get back into flows. I didn't do a lot of that last week. So yeah, I'll be out there today. And just as the week goes on, depending on how it's feeling, we'll see how much I end up doing but hopefully, every day will do a little bit more to get ready for the gain," Lawrence said.

Lawrence continued, "Today will be a good little test to get to throw a little bit and see how it feels. Probably still be limited out there and C.J. [Beathard] will take the bulk of the stuff. But that's the plan, to see how it feels every day and hopefully progress to where I can go on Sunday."

Later in the exchange, Lawrence then that he can make certain movements without restrictions but "there's some aggravation" in certain positions. He then reiterated that he's feeling better but he would like to see it go down a bit more. True to his word, the third-year quarterback was in practice, although he did not attempt a throw, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.

Christian Kirk was also a limited participant in practice, alongside fellow wide receiver Zay Jones, who's getting a bigger workload than last week after missing two games with a hamstring injury. On the other hand, Ezra Cleveland and Walker Little had no restrictions Wednesday.

Both Cleveland and Little were limited in practice last week and end up sitting out the game against the Carolina Panther to get a bit healthier. It looks like the decision paid off, as they were full participants Wednesday. Here's the team's injury report.

Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence making progress, hard to tell if he'll play vs. the Titans

On one hand, it's encouraging to see Trevor Lawrence get healthier ahead of the finale. On the other hand, it doesn't make sense to expose him to further injury if he isn't a full-go. As he said, he and the coaching staff need to thread the needle carefully.

The last thing the Jacksonville Jaguars want is to see Lawrence get re-injured, especially with the playoffs on the line. What makes his status for the game so pivotal is that they'll need to beat the Tennessee Titans to qualify for the postseason. If they lose, they would need a lot of help to get in.

Given that Lawrence gives the Jags the best chance to win, it's understandable that they want him to be available, especially against a Titans team that wants to play spoilers in the finale. Having said that, it may be too early to tell if he'll suit up. For all we know, he could be a game-time decision like he's been on prior occasions this season.

For the time being, C.J. Beathard is getting the lion's share of the reps in practice and will be ready to go if the Jaguars need him to start against Tennessee.

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