Will Trevor Lawrence be playing in the Jaguars vs. Falcons game in Preseason Week 3?

The Jacksonville Jaguars are looking to finish the 2024 NFL Preseason strong. Having disposed of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they're looking to beat the Atlanta Falcons in the finale. Their 20-7 win against the Buccaneers was noteworthy because Lawrence didn't suit up. This is understandable for a couple reasons.

First, the team's brass wanted to decrease the odds of exposing Lawrence to injuries. Moreover, the Jags needed to evaluate Mac Jones and C.J. Beathard. The duo was competing for the backup job behind No. 16.

Unfortunately, the battle came to a screeching halt when Beathard suffered a groin injury against the Bucs. With the former Iowa Hawkeye out, Jacksonville signed E.J. Perry, who's been in their practice squad the past two seasons.

But even if Beathard hadn't gotten hurt, Jones was outplaying him. The latter was supposed to play only one half in Week 2 but returned when his veteran counterpart went down. Ultimately, he went 16-of-23 for 210 yards with two touchdowns. So how will the Jaguars quarterback room look in the finale? Here's a look.

The Jaguars want to see Trevor Lawrence execute vs. the Falcons

Trevor Lawrence will suit up against the Atlanta Falcons. This will be the second time he'll be thrust into action in the preseason. He went 3-of-4 with one touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs in the opener. However, the former Clemson Tiger sat out the bout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Leaving aside that Jacksonville wanted to limit his exposure to injuries, Lawrence got ample work during joint practices with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That said, he'll play in the preseason finale. Head coach Doug Pederson said as much when he met with the local media on the days preceding the game.

Ideally, Pederson wants to see the starters play at least two quarters but noted that the amount can change depending on the flow of the game and how things play out. For instance, if Lawrence has a good first quarter, it won't make much sense to keep him on the field much longer. When it comes to the starters, the coaching staff wants to see execution.

On a related note, Jacksonville has already ruled out wide receiver Christian Kirk for the game. The former Texas A&M Aggie has been nursing a calf injury. While Pederson says it isn't serious, the team wants to err on the side of caution and is holding him out as a cautionary measure.

On the other hand, the Jaguars also need to assess the bottom half of the roster, which is why plenty of starters will probably play less than one half. When it comes to the quarterbacks, let's say Lawrence plays one or two quarters, Mac Jones will also play a quarter and E.J. Perry will take the field for whatever time remains on the clock.

Ultimately, this will be the last time the Jaguars will have action before the regular season opener, so they'll want to keep a balance between giving Trevor Lawrence work and keeping him injury-free.

More Jaguars analysis here: