Unsteady late, Jacksonville survives fourth-quarter outburst by the Saints

Travis Etienne ran for two touchdowns, Foyesade Oluokun returned an interception for a score, and Christian Kirk’s 44- yard touchdown after a short catch over the middle lifted the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 31-24 victory against the host New Orleans Saints on Thursday night.

Jaguars quarterback

Trevor Lawrence returned from a sprained knee that forced him out of the final minutes of a victory over Indianapolis on Sunday and wound up leading Jacksonville ( 5- 2) with 59 yards rushing. He also completed 20 of 29 passes for 204 yards and one TD to help the Jaguars win their fourth straight and give them their best start since opening 5-2 in 2007.

Kirk’s touchdown broke a tie with 3:08 left. The Saints (3-4) were in position to answer when they drove inside the Jacksonville 10 in the final minute, but stalled out with four straight incomplete passes.

A third- down pass bounced off Foster Moreau’s hands in the back of the end zone and a fourth-down timing throw to Chris Olave along the left sideline fell incomplete, ending the comeback bid.

The Saints rallied from 249 down to tie the game on touchdowns by Taysom Hill on a 1-yard, fourth-down run and Michael Thomas on a 17yard reception — the latter followed by Derek Carr’s pass to Alvin Kamara for a 2point conversion.

Browns

Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson was limited in practice. Watson tested his injured right shoulder by throwing passes in his first practice in nearly three weeks, moving him closer to possibly starting this week against Indianapolis after missing two games. Watson has been sidelined with a strained rotator cuff.

Raiders

Las Vegas quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will not play Sunday because of a back injury when the Raiders visit the Chicago Bears, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the Raiders have not announced Garoppolo’ playing status.