Clemson football: Lawrence, Etienne make preseason debuts for Jaguars

Former Clemson football greats Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne made their preseason debuts on Friday night as Jacksonville fell to Cleveland 24-13 after jumping out to a 13-0 lead early.

Lawrence started the game and completed six of twelve passes for 95 yards and a touchdown for the game.

In general, the Jaguars looked improved over the Hall of Fame game last week, in which neither Lawrence nor Etienne played.

All thirteen points came with Lawrence at the controls, scoring on all three possessions.

On the first play from scrimmage, Lawrence connected with Zay Jones for 32 yards to set up an eventual field goal when a third down pass to Etienne fell incomplete.  Etienne contributed a 12 yard run, his longest of the night on the drive.

After a Browns fumble, the second Jags drive went three and out resulting in another field goal and a 6-0 lead.

Lawrence’s third, and final, drive ended with a touchdown pass to Evan Engram to cap an 11 play 63 yard drive and a 13-0 lead, meaning the first team offense scored on all three drives.

Etienne had a more nuanced night, hitting the hole fast on the 12 yard run, something that was reminiscent of his college days.  However, he finished the night with only 23 yards on nine carries.

This was Etienne’s pro football debut after he sat out all of last season with a Lisfranc injury.

Clemson football greats Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne made their 2022 debuts Friday night in Jacksonville’s 24-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns

There is much improvement to be had for the Jags who finished last season 3-14, but there is optimism that after a tough season as a rookie, Lawrence will continue to develop and the addition of Etienne will add a spark to a lackluster offense which scored a league low 253 points in 17 games.

For the most part Lawrence earned the praise of Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson, saying he made some difficult throws and exhibited maturity.

Etienne, of course, has work to do and after missing his entire first season, maybe was trying too hard to make something happen.

The Jags have two more exhibition games before opening the regular season in Washington against the Commanders September 11th.