Jaguars beat Lions in Preseason Week 2: WR competition heating up, other takeaways

One of the biggest questions surrounding the Jacksonville Jaguars ahead of Week 2 of the 2023 preseason was whether they would play their starters and how much time they would remain on the field. The Detroit Lions made up their mind a few days ago and just before the game started, the Jags announced that they would also sit their starters.

Teams often give the starters lots of playing time in Week 2 of the preseason and rest them in the finale. This approach makes sense when you take into account that players need to shake off the rust but clubs want to also minimize the risk of injury. The Jaguars might have seen enough from their starters on the days preceding the game to instead open the dance floor with the backups.

This decision gave several players the opportunity to make an impression before Jacksonville trims down the roster in a couple weeks. On the other hand, others failed to take advantage of the opportunities they were given. With that in mind, here are three takeaways from the Jaguars' 25-7 win over the Lions in Week 2 of the preseason.

Jaguars CJ Beathard hasn't had a good preseason

Preseason doesn't matter, right? At least when it comes to the win/loss column, it doesn't. That said, players still need to show up and give their best effort. That hasn't been the case with quarterback C.J. Beathard, who's been underwhelming. Against the Cowboys, he went 6-of-13 for 80 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

Although that's not necessarily a cause for concern, Beathard wasn't much better against the Lions, completing 60 percent of his passes for 138 yards with one touchdown and one interception. This doesn't mean he'll tumble down the depth chart or that Nathan Rourke will get ahead of him, but it doesn't bode well for him.

In fact, head coach Doug Pederson shut down the notion there's a battle for the QB2 job when he met with the local media after the game.