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The Jacksonville Jaguars are fighting for a spot in the AFC playoffs and have an opportunity of clinching the AFC South division with a win over Carolina and losses by Houston and Indianapolis. 

But it won't be easy as the Jaguars will be without starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who will miss his first game due to injury with a right shoulder. C.J. Beathard will be stepping in his place, attempting to get this team back on the right track after losing four straight games.

The six-year veteran has been viewed as one of the better backup quarterbacks in the league, spending time behind Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco for three years and now behind Lawrence in Jacksonville. When Garoppolo missed an extensive amount of time, Beathard took over the reins of the offense. Although he didn't play poorly in his twelve starts with the Niners, the team had very little success winning just two of those games. Beathard threw for 3,649 yards and 18 touchdowns to 13 interceptions while completing 58.6% of his passes from 2017-20. 

He hasn't been thrown into action much since coming to Jacksonville until these past two weeks when Lawrence suffered an ankle injury in Cincinnati and then last week when the shoulder injury popped up. In those two relief appearances, Beathard went 20/25 for 157 yards and a touchdown.

He is a pure pocket passer that at times, holds on to the ball a little too long. Jacksonville's offensive line has not been great in pass protection and have used a variety of different lineup combinations throughout the season. This is a prime opportunity for Brian Burns, Frankie Luvu, and Derrick Brown to wreak havoc in the backfield.

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