An injury to Trevor Lawrence’s non-throwing shoulder prompted the Jacksonville Jaguars to bring back veteran backup C.J. Beathard.

The Jaguars (2-7) signed Beathard off Miami’s practice squad Wednesday to “give us assurance” in case Lawrence can’t play against Minnesota (6-2), coach Doug Pederson said.

Pederson said Lawrence will be limited in practice Wednesday. Mac Jones remains the backup, and Beathard is the third option. The trio spent the offseason together before Beathard injured his groin in the preseason and was released.

“From our standpoint, we felt like we had a really good quarterback room with the three guys,” Pederson said. “C.J. got hurt there in camp and we had to let him go and all that, but we definitely wanted to at some point get him back here.

“I think it just strengthens our roster, strengthens that room. Trevor’s sore, obviously, and it gives us assurance.”

Lawrence took a hit to his shoulder while scrambling on a second-and-9 play in the second quarter at Philadelphia on Sunday. Instead of sliding, Lawrence chose to go head-first and got hammered by linebacker Zack Baun.

Smith won’t report to Lions till Friday

In an unusual move, the Detroit Lions welcomed new defensive end Za’Darius Smith to town by sending him home. Smith won’t report to the Lions until Friday and coach Dan Campbell isn’t sure if he will play on Sunday night against the Houston Texans.

“He’s been in the league for a while and (the Browns) were actually going on their bye this week,” Campbell said Wednesday. “He got the call from us, everything got done, and now we will let him do what he needs to do, get refreshed and get back here on Friday.”

Bears’ Moore: Midplay exit was due to injury

Chicago Bears receiver DJ Moore insisted he left the field during a play last weekend because he was hurt — not frustrated.

Moore said Wednesday he went to the sideline because he rolled his ankle when he cut back toward scrambling quarterback Caleb Williams in the opening minutes of a 29-9 loss at Arizona.

“I was coming back because I’d seen Caleb was scrambling,” he said. “My ankle went in and out. I was already — couldn’t stop, so my momentum took me out of bounds, and then I just walked off. The noise, I hear it, seen it. Really didn’t care. It is what it is.”

The Bears had the ball at midfield when Williams dropped back and rolled to his left as he was being chased. Moore cut back toward his quarterback near the sideline. He hopped as he stepped out of bounds, walked toward the bench and took a seat. But the play wasn’t over.

As Moore headed off the field, Williams spun away from a defender just when it looked like he might be sacked. He rolled toward the other side of the field before firing an incomplete pass to Keenan Allen.

Moore remained in the game, though he said the ankle bothered him the rest of the way. He caught four passes for 33 yards.

Briefly

Chiefs >> Quarterback Patrick Mahomes practiced as usual Wednesday and plans to be ready for this weekend’s game against the Broncos, two days after tweaking his left ankle while throwing a touchdown pass in a win over the Buccaneers.