Jaguars Week 14 Fantasy Football Outlook After Injuries to Trevor Lawrence and Christian Kirk

The Jacksonville Jaguars not only lost to the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night, but had two of their top offensive players injured in the process.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence left late in the game with an ankle injury, while wide receiver Christian Kirk left early with a groin injury. The early injury news for each player has been revealed, so it’s now appropriate to start looking at how the offense might look for week 14.

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Trevor Lawrence Injury

When Lawrence went down on Monday night, many believed he might be done for the season. Luckily, it appears that Lawrence is just dealing with a right ankle sprain. 

Coach Doug Pederson didn’t indicate how long Lawrence might be out, and didn’t rule him out for week 14, so even if he does miss a game or two, it’s better news than any serious injury that would have sidelined him for the rest of the season.

The injury for Lawrence came at a bad time, as the quarterback seemed like he was turning the corner a bit after a so-so season. He’s thrown for at least 250 yards in the past three games, over which times he’s thrown five touchdowns to just one interception. Lawrence hasn’t gained many yards on the ground in that span, but has scored four rushing touchdowns.

For the season, Lawrence has completed 67.9% of his passes and tossed 14 touchdowns to seven interceptions. All of his rushing scores have come over the past three weeks.

While he wasn’t living up to some people’s expectations, there would obviously be a bit of a dropoff if Lawrence were to miss any time. C.J. Beathard replaced Lawrence on Monday and should start in his place if need be.

Beathard was pretty solid in relief, completing 9-of-10 passes for 63 yards. He added a 7-yard run.

Beathard has played sparingly during his three seasons with the Jaguars, but does have some starting experience dating back to his time with the San Francisco 49ers. The fact he’s been in Jacksonville for the past couple years should also give fantasy owners some relief, as this isn’t a situation where a quarterback is trying to learn a whole new offensive system. 

As you’d expect with a quarterback who used to start and now is just a backup, Beathard’s numbers for his career are average. He’s completed 59.5% of his passes and thrown 18 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. Beathard has rushed for four touchdowns during his career.

Christian Kirk Injury

While potentially losing your quarterback is the bigger deal, not having Kirk for an extended period of time might end up hurting the Jaguars more.

Kirk was the team’s leader in targets coming into the game, and still leads the team in receiving yards. For the season, Kirk has caught 57-of-85 targets for 787 yards and three touchdowns. He’s hauled in half of his six red zone targets.

Without Kirk for basically all of Monday’s game, the pass game was pretty balanced.

Tight end Evan Engram led the team with nine targets, catching each one for 82 yards and a touchdown. He’s got six or more targets in each of the past four games. 

Zay Jones was targeted eight times on Monday, making five grabs for 78 yards. It was the most receiving yards Jones has had across six games played this season.

Calvin Ridley finished the game with seven touches. He caught half of his eight targets for 26 yards, while getting three rushes and gaining 7 yards. Ridley has been inconsistent all season, but did have 210 yards and three scores in the previous two games.

Parker Washington was the player who took advantage of extra playing time after Kirk went down. He played 41 snaps and caught all six of his targets for 61 yards and a score. He hadn’t caught a pass coming into the game.

Who to Start in Week 14

Jacksonville has a tough matchup ahead against the Cleveland Browns and their top-end defense. The defense got shredded by the Los Angeles Rams in week 13, so they’ll be eager to get back on track, and licking their chops if Beathard starts for an injured Lawrence.

Let’s cover things first by addressing things if Lawrence is cleared and he starts. For the rest of the story, we will assume Kirk is out for week 14.

This is a tough matchup for whichever QB starts for Jacksonville, and if Lawrence is playing, it’ll be at less than 100%. For those couple reasons, I’d avoid starting Lawrence.

If Lawrence is playing, I’d expect the Jaguars to lean a bit more on their running game, which means Travis Etienne should get plenty of touches. It’s a tougher matchup for running backs too, but Etienne gets so much work that he should be starting. D’Ernest Johnson might also get some extra work, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable starting him in any format.

The matchup for the receivers is also very tough. With Kirk out, it’s hard to say who might serve as the top fantasy wideout. I could make arguments to start Jones, Ridley and Washington, but I’d want to see your other matchups before making a decision. I guess that means that I’m OK starting any of the three receivers, but also am not convinced that any of them will truly shine. I’d rank them as follows: Jones, Ridley, Washington.

The matchup for Engram is the toughest for any TE. If Lawrence plays though, I’d lean toward starting Engram because of the void left by Kirk. If you roster a second tight end, their matchup is better, so unless that player also has a tough matchup, or just hasn’t been consistent, I would also be fine benching Engram.

It’s starting to sound like Jacksonville players will be part of trending decisions on the FantasySP start/sit tool going into week 14.

Now let’s address things saying that Lawrence is out for the contest.

We’ll start with Beathard, and although he looked good in relief on Monday, the Browns’ defense is no joke, and I wouldn’t add/start Beathard unless there’s absolutely no other options available.

I think Etienne’s fantasy outlook would rise a touch with Lawrence out. He’d likely be facing more defenders in the box, but would probably get some more touches and have a bit better chance to score. So I’m starting Etienne regardless of who the team’s quarterback is. Johnson would get even more work if Lawrence is out, but I still wouldn't start him in any leagues.

I was on the fence about Jones, Ridley, Washington and Engram with Lawrence at quarterback, so with Beathard starting, I’d lean toward not playing any of them. Someone is bound to have at least a decent fantasy showing, but it’s tough to guess who that guy might be. I want to say Engram, but Cleveland does such a good job against TE that I simply can’t. I’d rank the pass catchers as follows: Jones, Ridley, Engram, Washington.

The Lawrence to Beathard switch isn’t probably as big a dropoff as some fantasy owners want to believe, but the tough matchup with the Browns’ defense makes the switch that much more noticeable. So if you roster any Jaguars, you’re going to want to keep a close eye on social media this week. Have a plan in place in case Lawrence doesn’t play.