Trevor Lawrence, most of first-team offense, will start for Jaguars against Cleveland

Jaguars fans will get a preseason treat: a glimpse of the first-team offense guided by quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Jags coach Doug Pederson announced Wednesday before the team practiced at the Episcopal School’s Knight Campus that Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne and the first-team offensive line will start on Friday in the team’s second preseason game against Cleveland, at TIAA Bank Field (7 p.m., FOX).

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”A couple [of] series … not too long,” Pederson said. “Just want them to get a feel of the game and get them working in game situations. It’s a new scheme new faces out there that he’s [Lawrence] working with … just want to have some crisp plays with good execution, try to score a few points.”

Lawrence and Etienne were among 21 players who sat out last week’s preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders in the Hall of Fame game win Canton, a 27-11 loss.

Also playing will be right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who has been nursing a hamstring injury. He is in a battle with second-year player Walker Little for the starting job and Little, by all accounts, played well last week against the Raiders.

Left tackle Cam Robinson and left guard Brandon Scherff will get their first action of the preseason.

Still likely to be held out will be wide receivers Jamal Agnew (hip injury from last season) and Laviska Shenault (lower body) and running back James Robinson (Achilles injury from last season).

Lawrence looked sharp in Wednesday's practice and connected with wide receiver Zay Jones on several big plays.

Lawrence completed 31 of 40 passes on a combination of 11-on-11 periods and one 7-on-7. The Jags ran situational possessions such as a two-minute drill, third-and-short and plays inside the 10.

Pederson said he also will put second-team quarterback C.J. Beathard in the game when Lawrence is done. Beathard has been brought along slowly in training camp after a groin injury in OTAs and only threw in full-team periods for the first time earlier this week.

"I don't need to see a lot from C.J.," Pederson said, referring to Beathard's six years in the league. "But I still want to, again, see him out there and how he executes the offense."

Beathard didn't have great accuracy in practice Wednesday, completing 10 of 26 passes overall. But he threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Cotton Jr., who made a nice adjustment to the ball to beat starting cornerback Shaq Griffin in single coverage.

Etienne continued to run well, finding the holes quickly and bursting into the open field.

Lawrence makes Gatorade debut

Lawrence began getting more national exposure this week when his first commercials for Gatorade began airing.

Lawrence and other athletes such as Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres, Olympic golf medalist hurdler Sydney McLaughlin, UConn basketball player Paige Bueckers and Minnesota Timberwolves player Karl Anthony Towns are part of Gatorade's "Fuel Tomorrow" campaign.

According to a press release, the campaign "is celebrating the fun of sport, underscoring the brand’s belief that when you play for the love of the game, you get the most out of it."

The spot was developed based on the National Alliance for Youth Sports reporting that a majority of kids are quitting sports by age 13 because it’s not fun anymore.

Titled, "All For Fun," it shows the athletes playing with kids to illustrate that first and foremost, sports is supposed to be fun.

Lawrence is filmed playing football with a group of youngsters on a field; Tatis playing stickball; McLaughlin racing a kid down a city street; and Bueckers laughing and dancing during a pickup game with kids.

Gatorade launched Lawrence's first-ever custom Gx Bottles spot earlier this summer.

Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Trevor Lawrence, most of first-team offense, will start for Jaguars