Rare photo of Trevor Lawrence with short hair stuns fans and they can't work out who he looks like

The Jacksonville Jaguars look to have dodged a season-ending catastrophe with the news that Trevor Lawrence's ankle injury is not as bad as first feared.

Duvals were fearing the worst when Lawrence limped off the field in the fourth quarter of Monday night's defeat to Cincinnati.

The third-year quarterback suffered a right ankle injury late in the 31-34 loss after teammate Walker Little accidentally stepped on him.

Less than 48 hours later, Lawrence addressed the media on Wednesday without a walking boot and said he felt "a lot better".

"I'm thankful it's not a worse injury than what I thought on the field," Lawrence said.

Jags head coach Doug Pederson has refused to rule out starting Lawrence this Sunday.

READ MORE NFL

Lawrence said: "If I can be out there and be myself for the most part, then I'm going to be out there."

The Jags slipped to 8-4 after Monday's loss but remain in first place in the AFC South.

Lawrence has started all 46 possible games since being drafted No. 1 in 2021, which is tied for the third-longest active start streak among quarterbacks.

For his first couple of seasons in the NFL, Lawrence was known as much for his majestic hair as his on-field exploits.

Most read in NFL

The Jags signal caller's golden locks have been a talking point ever since his time at Clemson. However, before he became a Tigers legend he sported a no-nonsense buzz cut even the hardest high-school jock would be proud of.

Old highlights reel from Lawrence's time at Cartersville High School in Cartersville, Georgia, shows T-Law with noticeably shorter hair for perhaps the last time in his life.

"Ross from Friends vibes," one fan said when watching back the video of the wannabe NFL star.

"Reminds me of Sid, the neighbour in Toy Story," said another.

"Absolute Sherminator!" remarked another, who thought Lawrence looked like the cult American Pie character of the same name.

However, Lawrence didn't rock the buzz cut for much longer.

From his freshman year onwards, the budding quarterback's curls grew exponentially after he and three teammates dared one another to not cut their hair for as long as they could manage.

The idea was to see who could hold out the longest and if any of them could actually pull off the look - and it seems Trevor might have won.

Back then the Jags star led Clemson to a national title as a true freshman and dominated the college scene as one of the best quarterbacks in the country during his three-year career.

At the same time, Lawrence's flowing locks, dubbed 'The Trevor', were making national headlines on their own.

It was not an uncommon sight to see legions of Clemson students wearing blonde wigs with white headbands to the Tennessee native's games at Death Valley.

During his final season with the Tigers, Lawrence threw for 3,153 passing yards with 24 touchdowns and five interceptions and finished in second in voting for the Heisman Trophy behind Alabama wide receiver and future Eagles star, DeVonta Smith.

By the time the 2021 NFL Draft came around, the field general was already one of the highest-regarded amateur prospects. Yet still it was his voluminous head growth that people remained fixated on.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this point when I get questions about my hair, but I am," Lawrence said before the draft. "I guess I thought maybe people would be used to it. I mean, I've had it for a while now."

A high school student, who looked strikingly like Lawrence, becoming a TikTok sensation certainly helped the QB's celebrity profile.

As did the constant comparisons to various pop culture figures, like GQ, who likened him to Fabio Lanzoni, the retired cover star of romance novels.

Others compared Lawrence to Chris Hemsworth's Thor character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it was his 'Sunshine' nickname that stuck with him throughout high school and into the pros.

Although you'd be forgiven for thinking the moniker was given to Lawrence for his warm and radiant disposition, the nickname is actually a nod to the iconic sports film 'Remember The Titans', when QB Ronnie Bass was called 'Sunshine' after showing up to his first practice with a flowy long blonde head of hair.

"Yeah, I've heard 'Sunshine' pretty much my whole life," Lawrence once explained.

Fast forward to present day and Lawrence's hair is still a subject of great interest around the league.

The 2022 Pro Bowler recently joined Peyton and Eli Manning on their Manningcast for the New York Jets vs Los Angeles Chargers game where he was asked about that other great head of NFL hair belonging to Justin Herbert.

"Trevor, last year, Justin Herbert said your hair was more impressive than his," Manning said.

"Justin also said that he does it and I quote, "put that much effort into it". It seems like he's implying that you work too hard on your hair. Now, I don't like to start feuds here on the Manningcast, but please take the opportunity to fire back if you'd like."

The trio then discussed the fact that Lawrence grew up looking up to Peyton before Eli revealed a rather unnerving photo of what Lawrence would like if he had the same hairdo as Peyton.

It's unlikely Lawrence will make this the 2023 version of 'The Trevor', but stranger things have happened.

Read More on talkSPORT

For now, though, he has more serious matters to attend to.

Both Lawrence and the Jaguars will be hoping he can shake off his latest injury and return to action as soon as possible to help the team in their playoff push.

ncG1vNJzZmiskaG4tLzOq6tnm5%2BifLS8zquraGlma4N2fphoq6udpqS%2FbrjAsKmeppOaerS0zqurZqCRnr9utsCcoqynnqu2rbjEZqGan6WWv7R7