Doug Pederson and the Jacksonville Jaguars have been making an effort to start over from “ground zero” with Trevor Lawrence this offseason.
In the words of Pederson, who was hired as the Jaguars’ new head coach in February, the organization is “hitting the reset button” with Lawrence, so to speak.
But at the same time, the Jags want to build upon the experience Lawrence gained as a rookie in 2021, when the former Clemson quarterback started all 17 games.
“It’s really sort of kind of taking what he did last year and sort of building on it — almost like hitting the reset button just a little bit,” Pederson said to the media recently. “Because this is the first time that we’ve had our chance to work with him and really begin to work on the details and the fundamentals and how to be a professional and his study habits, and all those things that come with being an NFL quarterback.”
Like rookie quarterbacks tend to do, Lawrence struggled at times last season, completing 59.6 percent of his passes for 3,641 yards and 12 touchdowns with 17 interceptions. But the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft flashed his potential at times throughout his first NFL campaign and finished the year on a high note in the regular-season finale, completing 23-of-32 passes for 223 yards and throwing for two touchdowns while leading the Jaguars to a 26-11 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
The Jags are at about the halfway point of their voluntary offseason program and will begin organized team activities Monday.
Pederson and the Jags’ staff are getting to work with Lawrence for the first time, and as Pederson put it, this time of year is about “teaching him exactly what we’re asking of him within our system, and then letting him grow from there.”
“The thing with Trevor that I really like is the fact that he played last year, and so this is not his rookie season,” Pederson said. “But for us, as coaches, being the first time to get our hands on him, just putting him through maybe a different set of drills, something he hasn’t been used to in his past and really developing his talent and allowing him to kind of showcase that on the field.”
One thing about Lawrence that has especially impressed Pederson is how well he has communicated when they’ve discussed the offense, schemes and offensive approach, etc.
“100 percent,” Pederson said. “He’s so engaging right now. The communication is pretty incredible. The things that he sees on the football field, and even from the standpoint of hey, ‘This is what we did last year, I like this play, I like this concept, is there a way that we can incorporate this in our offense?’ So, that’s the dialogue that’s going on right now, and this is the time to really I think embrace that and get it into our system now.”
–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
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