Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson announced that starting QB Trevor Lawrence will be out for Sunday’s contest against the Detroit Lions with a shoulder injury. Mac Jones will get his second start of the season.
In Week 10, the Jaguars faced the Minnesota Vikings. After holding the lead for most of the game, they lost. Jones threw for 111 yards, completing 14-22 passes and two interceptions, finishing with a passer rating of just 38.3. The Lions opened the week as -13.5 favorites per FanDuel Sportsbook and have stayed the same since Pederson announced Jones would get the start. This is likely due to Lawrence’s down season, and 13.5 points is an enormous spread.
With their 8-1 start to the season, the Lions’ defense is one of six teams in NFL history to have an interception in each of its first nine games while not allowing multiple touchdown passes from opposing quarterbacks. Also, Aaron Glenn’s defense has allowed a passer rating of just 75.1 to opposing QBs, which is currently the lowest in the NFL.
Lions safety duo Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch have continued to make it difficult on quarterbacks throughout the season, combining for nine interceptions, with Josephs’ 6 tied with the Green Bay Packers’ Xavier McKinney for the league’s lead, while Branch is tied for the lead with four Pass Break Ups, sits atop the NFL with five forced incompletions, and has an allowed passer rating of just 27.0 on the season. CB Carlton Davis III, who has been playing exceptionally well as of late, had his coming out party on Sunday Night, picking off C.J. Stroud two times and playing a crucial role in the Lion’s epic 26-23 win over the Houston Texans.
Despite losing Aidan Hutchinson in Week 5, Glenn’s defense hasn’t missed a beat and is firing on all cylinders, getting production at every level- not to mention the Lions have not allowed an opposing running back to eclipse 100 rushing yards since December 24, 2022.