Any time you draft a quarterback in the first round, deciding when to play them can be a bit of a gamble. Pull the trigger too early, and it could harm their development. Likewise, coaches are under a lot of pressure to play highly drafted passers early.
This is especially true when that quarterback is taken with the first overall pick, and that’s exactly the situation Jacksonville finds itself in. Coming off a 1-15 season in 2020, fans certainly expect to see Trevor Lawrence early, possibly as soon as the first offensive snap of the season.
In an interview with USA TODAY’s Mackenzie Salmon on “Sports Seriously,” Jaguars coach Urban Meyer said the team isn’t in a rush to make a decision about the QB1 role.
“He’s not ready yet, but he doesn’t have to be ready yet,” Meyer said, according to quotes transcribed by John Shipley of Jaguar Report. “We got a long training camp coming up. He’s probably advanced maybe a little quicker than we would’ve thought, which was a positive.”
This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as Lawrence was limited throughout minicamp as he recovers from shoulder surgery in the spring. He should be at (or at least, near) 100% by the start of camp next month, and that will be his true chance to solidify himself as the team’s starter.
However, the work developing Lawrence started long before OTAs. In fact, it started well before he was even selected by the Jags. We know that he had the playbook before the draft, and Meyer elaborated to Salmon about what the team’s strategy was once it decided upon taking Lawrence.
“One thing that we worked on — when we made a decision that Trevor was going to be our No. 1 pick, we went from the evaluation stage to the preparation stage,” Meyer said.
“And that means that I want to see — I can’t remember the exact date, but we started installing the playbook with him well before the draft. So you can see the retention, he’s got a really good work ethic and he’s progressed very well.”
According to these comments by Meyer, it sounds like Lawrence is right on schedule in terms of his progression. Though it seems he hasn’t been the clear best quarterback so far, it probably wasn’t fair to expect him to be as he adjusts to the speed of the professional game and nurses his shoulder back to health.
Jacksonville has backups with starting experience in Gardner Minshew and C.J. Beathard, but Jags fans don’t want to see either of those players line up under center Week 1. And though he hasn’t earned the job yet, it seems Lawrence is well on track to be the guy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V11ErolOixg