Jaguars Sign Nathan Rourke to Active Roster Amidst Trevor Lawrence Injury

The Jaguars have added some insurance to the quarterback room ahead of Thursday Night Football.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed practice squad quarterback Nathan Rourke to the active roster ahead of their Thursday Night Football matchup with the New Orleans Saints.

The signing of Rourke -- which is not a standard practice squad elevation -- gives the Jaguars much-needed insurance in the event starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence misses his first NFL start with a knee injury. 

Lawrence left Sunday's 37-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts with a knee injury after rolling out and taking a sack with just over 3:00 left in the game, but the third-year signal-caller said after the game that he was "feeling OK." ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Monday that it was a knee sprain but ultimately wasn't a serious injury.

Lawrence has started all 42 games of his career since the Jaguars drafted him with the No. 1 overall pick in 2021. The only other notable injury Lawrence has dealt with was a toe injury that briefly knocked him out of the game in last year's Week 13 contest vs. the Detroit Lions.

If Lawrence does start, the Jaguars can at least have Rourke active for game day and not hurt their active roster numbers due to the new third quarterback rule. If Lawrence doesn't start, then Rourke can be the Jaguars' No. 2 quarterback behind new starter C.J. Beathard. 

“The confidence is very high, that we can go out and run our offense and he can function at a high level," Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said about Beathard. "He’s got experience in this league, he’s got experience now in our system, the guys around him trust him, we know he can go out and function in a solid way with the possibility to win the game if that’s what we needed to do.”

“They can run a lot of the same stuff we feel like. It’s like any game, you tailor your approach to what defense you’re seeing and how they play and what puts everybody, not just the quarterback in the best possible position to have success.”