The Jacksonville Jaguars elevated Nick Mullens to the active roster on Saturday afternoon and made him Trevor Lawrence’s backup for Sunday’s Jaguars Game against the Cleveland Browns. Quinn Ewers was sent to the practice squad and designated the emergency quarterback.
That move settled Jacksonville’s quarterback depth chart one day before kickoff at EverBank Stadium, where the Jaguars will face Cleveland at 1 p.m. Mullens, 31, appeared in five games for Jacksonville during his 2025 campaign and completed 3 of 3 passes for 19 yards, giving the club a more experienced option behind Lawrence for the opener.
The choice mattered because Jacksonville traded for Ewers on Aug. 29 and sent away a 2028 sixth-round pick, yet still kept Mullens in the No. 2 role. Under the roster rules, Ewers can play only if both Lawrence and Mullens are sidelined with injuries, which made Saturday’s move a clear sign of how the Jaguars wanted the quarterback room ordered for Sunday.
Mullens has started 20 contests and played in 34 games across his career, with time in Jacksonville, San Francisco, Cleveland and Minnesota. He has completed 533 of 808 passes for 6,448 yards, 34 touchdowns and an 88.3 passer rating, numbers that help explain why the Jaguars chose him to back up Lawrence when the season opened against Cleveland.
