It might not have been the most horrendous first-half performance in Jacksonville Jaguars history, but Trevor Lawrence was definitely off his game in the first half of the team’s third preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He ended the second quarter with 14 completions on 21 attempts for 133 yards and neither a touchdown nor an interception. Those numbers are good for an 84.0 passer rating, which is average at best for a starting quarterback in the preseason.
These exhibition games are an opportunity to work out the kinks in an offense, but with just one more game standing between this Jaguars team and the regular season, the results this week may be cause for concern. The Steelers have a solid defense and didn’t need to do anything too innovative to keep Lawrence contained.
He started to show some life late in the second quarter but stalled out in the red zone to set up kicker Ryan Santoso’s second field goal of the game on his penultimate drive. On the final try, they would fail to convert on fourth down, setting up a Pittsburgh touchdown that put the Jaguars down by one point.
Veteran C.J. Beathard is set to take over under center for Jacksonville in the second half and will likely need to put more points on the board to get the Jaguars in a position to win. With Pittsburgh’s impressive rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett already off the bench in relief of Mitchell Trubisky, field goals likely won’t cut it for Jacksonville as the game wears on.
The silver lining here is that Lawrence managed to keep from turning the ball over, which was a constant plague on Jacksonville’s offense last season. He’ll need to find a way to get more efficient for the Jaguars to have a chance to compete this season. This performance against the Steelers is an impetus for a new approach next week when Jacksonville plays the Falcons at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The Jaguars entered halftime faced with a one-point deficit against Pittsburgh, down 7-6 due in no small part to Lawrence’s inability to put points on the board.