Will he or won't he? Part II: Jaguars to take on Browns with Lawrence status in flux

This isn't anything new for the Jacksonville Jaguars (8-4), they've been here before.

Since he's taken over as the team's head coach Doug Pederson will, for a third time, need to figure out a way to weather the storm after an injury to franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence cast some doubt about his availability to play.

Dealing with a high ankle sprain, Lawrence is officially listed as questionable and will likely be a game-time decision to play Sunday. Lawrence practiced on a limited basis on Thursday and Friday. Still, Pederson is optimistic.

“We’ve gone through this with him, we did it last year with the toe and this year with the knee. He’s played, if history suggests, he’s played the next week. Obviously, a year ago in Detroit, he played the second half on that injury. It just to me shows his toughness, physical toughness, mental toughness," said Pederson.

"I believe when your quarterback exudes that, I think it does send a message to the rest of your team in a good way. I’m still optimistic for this weekend, but again, the fact that he’s willing and able to put himself out there for his teammates and his team speaks volumes.”

Still, the Jaguars will have to do everything they can to keep pushing through with whoever ends up playing quarterback against the Cleveland Browns (7-5) on Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The game will kick off at 1 p.m. and broadcast locally on CBS.

Week 14 staff predictions: Jacksonville Jaguars at Cleveland Browns

"No one really cares in the NFL if you’ve got a guy hurt, there’s no excuses to not perform and to not produce. We understand that and guys are going to step up, we’ve got great players and that’s why you have depth," Lawrence said Wednesday.

"In this sport, you can’t take anything for granted and you’re never going to have a guy for the whole season guaranteed. Anything can happen at any moment and that’s why guys have to be prepared. You see guys having to step up, that will and that have in the past.”

The injuries have piled up. Along with Lawrence, starters such as WR Christian Kirk (core muscle), RB Travis Etienne, DL Foley Fatukasi, CB Tyson Campbell (quadriceps), OL Walker Little (hamstring) and CB Tre Herndon (concussion) have all been ruled out or listed as questionable for Sunday's game with Kirk landing on injured reserve, ending his season for at least the next four games.

The Browns are dealing with their quarterback conundrum with rookie QB Dorien Thompson-Robinson clearing the concussion protocol and veteran QB Joe Flacco getting plenty of reps throughout the week. Flacco started last week and is on the Browns' practice squad, whereas Thompson-Robinson is coming back after dealing with a concussion.

It remains to be seen who will start Sunday against Jacksonville. Regardless, the Jaguars' defense looks to bounce back after allowing 34 points Monday.

'Freak show': Jaguars will try to plan for Myles Garrett

Try as they might, the Jaguars will have their hands full when it comes to putting together a game plan against Browns defensive lineman Myles Garrett.

Garrett, playing in his seventh season with Cleveland, has been one of the top defensive players since he stepped foot in the NFL as the first-overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Garrett has accounted for 87.5 sacks and 89 tackles for loss throughout his career. The only season in which Garrett did not account for 10 or more sacks in a single season was his rookie year when he played just 11 games.

This year has been no different.

Garrett is playing at an extremely high level, accounting for 13 sacks and 12 tackles for loss to go along with his 23 quarterback hits.

“He is a freak show," Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said Thursday when asked about Garrett.

"He looks like the Hulk. We’ve watched the highlights of him playing basketball, we’ve watched the highlights of him doing the 60-inch box jump. It’s incredible what he’s able to do. He’s got speed, power, and quickness. They move him around; they do a good job of not putting him stationery where you know where he’s going to be."

Garrett, 6-foot-4, 272 pounds, looks like the most physically imposing player on the field on any given Sunday.

With Little ruled out, Cleveland is in line to take over as the team's starting left tackle against the Browns with veteran guard Tyler Shatley installed as the team's left guard, a return for Shatley and a flip for Cleveland. Cleveland played tackle in college at Boise State before switching to guard in the pros.

He's never gone up against Garrett by playing inside, but he's seen him up close and has studied him this week.

"Explosive, fast, all the things you want in a defensive end. I think we have a good plan, so it'll be fun to go out there and go against him," Jaguars offensive lineman Ezra Cleveland said in the Miller Electric Center locker room Thursday.

Cleveland started at left guard for the Jaguars against the Bengals on Monday night and played extensively at the position against the Houston Texans the week prior.

This week, though, he's taken some reps at left tackle due to Walker Little's hamstring injury keeping the third-year OL away from practicing.

"It's new, but I'm gonna play where the team needs me and I don't think it has to do with comfortability, I'm just gonna go out there and do what I do and try to play the game," he said.

'It doesn't matter': Jaguars not worried about teams inching closer to them in AFC standings

The Jaguars entered Monday night's game against the Bengals with the potential to soar to the top seed in the AFC. Instead, they're fourth and vying for a playoff spot with the Indianapolis Colts (7-5) and Houston Texans (7-5), along with the rest of the conference's top teams.

With five games left to go, though, the team isn't thinking about any of that, said Lawrence. They're thinking about the next matchup.

"We’ve just got to focus on the team we’re playing this week. The same thing goes back to last week, it’s one week at a time and you’ve got to take care of business. You’ve got to play your best each week and just find a way to win," said Lawrence.

"We weren’t able to last week, so that obviously makes things closer in our division but I think we’ve got to focus more on what’s in front of us and who we’re playing this week."

With their loss against the Bengals, the Jaguars are just one game ahead of seeds five-seven, including the Colts, Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns.

Still, Lawrence feels as though the Jaguars have everything out in front of them, emphasizing the need to not worry about what other teams are doing.

"We can’t worry about Houston or Indy or whoever is behind us, if we take care of business, we’re going to be fine," said Lawrence.

"It’s a little bit of that, you have to have that, I don’t want to say arrogance, but that confidence of it doesn’t matter what these other teams do, we’re good enough to beat anybody on any day and we’ve got to do that. We didn’t do that last week and we get another opportunity to this week." We still control our own destiny, but we can’t worry about teams from behind us."

The Jaguars still control their destiny and that continues this week against the Browns.

Jaguars injuries pile up, CB Tyson Campbell listed as questionable

QB Trevor Lawrence (ankle), RB Travis Etienne (ribs), CB Tyson Campbell (quadricep), DL Foley Fatukasi and RB D'Ernest Johnson are all listed as questionable to play Sunday.

CB Christian Braswell, CB Tre Herndon, OL Walker Little and TE Brenton Strange have all been ruled out for Sunday. Braswell just got back onto the practice field, awaiting his time to be called up, back to the 53-man roster from injured reserve.

Campbell returned last week against the Bengals for the first time after missing four out of the previous five games with a hamstring injury. In overtime, the veteran corner tweaked his quadricep muscle, putting his playing status in serious doubt for Sunday.

The Jaguars exercised caution against the Pittsburgh Steelers when they sat safety Andre Cisco, who was dealing with a hamstring injury, due to poor conditions. With rain and cold in the forecast in Cleveland this Sunday, it wouldn't be surprising to see Campbell inactive yet again.

Etienne, Fatukasi and Johnson are all very likely to play and Lawrence, as previously mentioned, is a game-time decision with seemingly a great shot to suit up Sunday.

Browns get healthier, still rule 4 questionable including WR Amari Cooper

The Jaguars' injury list was extensive this week, but so was the Browns'. Cleveland listed 18 players on its injury report but came out cleaner on the Friday game-status report with just four players listed with statuses.

WR Amari Cooper (concussion, ribs), OT Dawand Jones (knee), DB Cameron Mitchell (hamstring) and CB Denzel Ward (shoulder) are all listed as questionable to play Sunday.

Though Cooper is listed as questionable, he had yet to pass the five-step concussion protocol as of Friday evening, according to Zac Jackson of The Athletic. The Browns hold hope that Cooper can play and clear the protocol in time for Sunday, but that status is in question heading into game time.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82.

If you're a subscriber, thank you. If not, please consider becoming a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars take on Browns with Trevor Lawrence injury status in question