Trevor Lawrence’s response to bad game will say a lot about 2022 Jaguars
By Ben Arthur
FOX Sports AFC South Writer
Trevor Lawrence said all the right things.
After his team's 29-21 road loss Sunday to the Philadelphia Eagles, thanks largely to his five turnovers, the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback took accountability for his miscues. He wouldn't blame the sideways rain or the wet ball in Philadelphia for the giveaways. The bad exchange with center Luke Fortner on the failed (and fumbled) QB sneak in the second quarter? Lawrence pointed at himself.
"It starts with me," he said.
As do the Jaguars' hopes of continuing to show the NFL world that they're the real deal.
Jacksonville (2-2) appears to be a team on the rise under new coach Doug Pederson. But to prove it has improved enough to be a legitimate contender in the AFC South this season — that the two straight wins of 20-plus points were indicative of a speedy ascension — Lawrence must show that he can quickly flush out an abysmal performance. It's what great quarterbacks do.
Last season's No. 1 overall pick, Lawrence had the best two-game stretch of his young career prior to Sunday, completing 76.8% of his passes for 497 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions in convincing victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers.
What has worked? An effective, intermediate passing game where the wealth is shared.
Receiver Christian Kirk, signed to a big-money deal in free agency, has been the No. 1 option, leading the Jaguars in receptions (20), receiving yards (327) and receiving touchdowns (3). But in both wins, five pass-catchers had at least three receptions. Even on the road against the Washington Commanders, where they had a chance to win with just over a minute left, the Jaguars had four players with at least four receptions.
According to Next Gen Stats, Lawrence's passer rating has been better than league-average in five spots: Deep middle (20+ yards), left intermediate (10 to 20 yards), short middle (0 to 10 yards), short right and behind the line of scrimmage to his right. He has also been getting the ball out of his hands quickly. Through four games, 2.64 seconds have elapsed on average from the snap to the time he throws, tied for fifth-fastest in the league.
How quickly the ball was getting out of Lawrence's hands against the Eagles (2.52 seconds on average, per Next Gen Stats) was a moot point, though. His five turnovers led to 22 points for Philadelphia.
In addition to the giveaways, Lawrence hit just 11 of 23 passes (47.8%) for 173 yards and two touchdowns, both to receiver Jamal Agnew.
"Let's hope it's a blip," Pederson said Monday of Lawrence's Week 4 performance. "I don't think it's a setback. … You just hate to say it, but maybe it's one of those games during the season where just nothing goes right. It happens. You never make excuses. We have to do a better job of hanging on to the football. He knows that."
The Jaguars host the Houston Texans (0-3-1), the NFL's only winless team, this week. The matchup offers a chance for Jacksonville to do what good teams do: dominate bad teams.
The Texans' struggles in finishing games present a big opportunity for the Jaguars' defense, which is tied for third in takeaways and fourth in points allowed. Running backs Cam Robinson and Travis Etienne, alongside the offensive line, should also look to dominate Houston, which has the NFL's second-worst run defense.
But it starts with Lawrence. He must protect the ball and attack a Texans pass defense that has shown vulnerability with the surgical precision we saw in Weeks 2 and 3. Through Sunday, Houston ranked in the bottom half of the league in yards allowed per pass attempt (22nd), passing first downs allowed (23rd) and overall pass defense (19th).
"We're just going to keep fighting to prove to ourselves that we can be the team that we know we can be," Kirk said Sunday. "When we're at our best, we feel like we can play with anybody."
In Weeks 1 and 4, the Jaguars had the ball at the end of regulation with the chance to win or tie. Both times ended in Lawrence turnovers. In the season opener against the Commanders, it was an interception. Against the Eagles, it was a sack fumble.
How will Lawrence find success in end-of-game situations? More reps, Pederson said.
He believes Lawrence is one of the good quarterbacks in the league. And Pederson knows that the special ones — guys like Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen and others — all want the ball in their hands at the end of games.
"We want to make sure that when we do have the football at the end, we stay aggressive and maintain that mentality, especially at the quarterback position," Pederson said.
"Everybody kind of rides his coattails down the field [to] score and win the game."
Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.