NFL Preseason Recap: Lawrence, Etienne, Watson Performed Friday Night in Jacksonville
Three former Clemson Tigers got on the football field for the first time in the NFL's preseason on Friday night when the Jacksonville Jaguars hosted the Cleveland Browns.
Here's a look at how that trio performed in the visiting team's 24-13 victory:
Trevor Lawrence
The former Clemson quarterback who led the Tigers to the 2018 national championship and helped the team appear in the College Football Playoff three consecutive times got off to a good start in limited action on Friday.
Entering his second year in Jacksonville, the first pick of the 2021 NFL Draft went 6-for-12 passing for 95 yards. That included a 9-yard touchdown pass to tight end Evan Engram. Lawrence had a long pass of 32 yards and led the Jags on three scoring drives in the first half.
"I think overall he played well," Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson said. "It's good to see, a good throw-and-catch pace, some difficult throws. The touchdown to Evan was a good throw. I think this guy is very, very mature, handles a lot of things well. Nothing is too big or too small for him."
Travis Etienne
The ACC's all-time leading rusher returned to the playing field in a game for the first time since last August when he suffered a Lisfranc injury. Etienne rushed nine times for 23 yards with a long run of 12 yards. He also caught one pass for 10 yards.
He said after the game that playing with Lawrence again in the backfield "felt like we were just back in the old days." Etienne played at Clemson from 2017-20.
“He stayed disciplined in his path, in his track, and I thought maybe sometimes he got a little antsy and tried to make some moves that probably weren’t there,” Pederson said about Etienne. “But that just comes with time, as you know, and he hasn’t had the time. These are valuable reps for him. He’s going to get better.”
Deshaun Watson
Another former QB who led Clemson to a national title and multiple trips to the CFP, Watson made his first appearance in any NFL game since January of 2021. Watson had plenty of rust to shake off and it showed as he completed just one of his five passing attempts for seven yards.
“I think he probably wants some throws back,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, playing football for the first time in a while, I thought it was important to get out there with his teammates in this scheme, just hearing a different voice in the helmet, those type of things. I’m sure he had the butterflies and the jitters early. But I think he understands there’s work to do.”
Watson missed all of the 2021 season after he requested a trade from the Houston Texans and was then hit with 24 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct. Watson was traded to the Browns in March, has settled most of his cases and is set to serve a suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. he's able to play in preseason games while an appeal of his six-game suspension is being reviewed by the NFL, but the league is expected to punish him further.
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