Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence 'Doing Everything I Can' to Avoid Surgery on Shoulder Injury

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence says he is "doing everything I can" to avoid undergoing surgery on the AC joint sprain impacting his left shoulder.

"I think it's been a pretty difficult thing to gauge, honestly, of what's the best path forward," Lawrence said when asked about the potential of surgery on Wednesday (39:45 mark of the video below.) "Definitely something that I'm considering, and not off the table at all... hopefully, I'm able to get back out there this week, or at soon as possible, and then it's going to be every week, evaluating and seeing where it's at.

"Obviously, up until this point, I've been doing everything I can to avoid that, and want to be back out there with my guys and finish the season. So that's my goal, and that's what I want to do."

Lawrence has not played since a Week 9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 3. He suffered the injury in the second quarter but played the rest of the game, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Rapoport initially reported that the injury "can make throwing and simply functioning difficult."

Lawrence returned to Jaguars practice on Monday after the team's Week 12 bye.

The quarterback called the session "the first time in a while that I've been able to do anything significant," and said the plan was to work up to game speed on Wednesday.

Head coach Doug Pederson said Lawrence would get "bulk of the work" with the first team on Wednesday, four days before the Jaguars' upcoming Week 13 home game against the Houston Texans.

"I'm preparing to play, and preparing like I normally would, to play a full game," Lawrence said.

Backup quarterback Mac Jones, who has passed for 249 yards and three picks while rushing for one touchdown while starting two games in Lawrence's absence, is expected to receive some first-team reps on Wednesday in order to "keep him fresh," Pederson said.

Pederson said determining whether Lawrence was ready to start would depend on his "comfort level" and "what he can tolerate."

"We know that playing the position, you're going get hit and take hits," Pederson said. "I don't think that's necessarily the issue as much as just tolerating the pain level."

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson underwent surgery last season after suffering an AC joint sprain that impacted his throwing arm. Other players have avoided surgery by "managing" the injury, Rapoport noted. Lawrence's participation in practice this week could help him determine which path to take.