The Jacksonville Jaguars have reached the midpoint of training camp with one part of their quarterback room settled and another still open. Nick Mullens is expected to remain the team’s QB2 as the club heads toward Saturday’s preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints.
That is why Carter Bradley is drawing searches now. Trevor Lawrence is expected to sit out Saturday after Thursday’s joint practice, so the Jaguars are using the next game to sort out the layers behind him while Mullens stays in place as the clear second option. The backup role is not the question. The final spot behind it is.
Mullens has done enough in camp to make the answer on QB2 straightforward. He took the vast majority of second-team reps, brought experience in the system and has already served as a sounding board for Lawrence in Lawrence’s first year in the McVay-family style of offense. On Sunday, he showed again why the job has not moved off him, finding Austin Trammell deep for two different touchdowns.
That leaves the quieter fight for the QB3 and practice squad spot, where two young passers are still pushing for position. The setup matters because it is the only real competition left in the room. Mullens is not being chased for the backup job, but the Jaguars still have to decide who stays close enough to develop and who does not.
There is also a longer view here. The Jaguars signed Mullens to a two-year, $4.5 million deal last March, and he is set to be a free agent in March. That does not make Saturday’s preseason opener a contract story, but it does explain why the next few months matter. If Mullens keeps playing the way he has in camp, the club will at least have to think about whether it would want to keep him around again in 2027.
For now, the picture is simple. Mullens has the backup job, Lawrence is likely to watch Saturday from the sideline, and the only unresolved quarterback question is which young passer earns the last spot behind them.
