It’s safe to say the Jacksonville Jaguars feel good about the offensive investments they made in the 2022 offseason. Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, and Evan Engram are all posting career-best numbers after joining the Jaguars in free agency, and they’ve helped second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence blossom into a star.
With all of its recent additions excelling, the Jacksonville offense is gelling at the perfect time. The Jaguars won three straight games to finish the month of December and are heading into January in first place in the AFC South. That late season surge is no coincidence, says Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor.
“We felt like coming into this thing, we have a young quarterback that needs a ton of reps,” Taylor said Thursday. “We targeted guys that — from everything we knew — were always available, loved to practice, loved the process, time where we could get time on task on the side.
“Then we kind of knew through our course of time together that those reps would take over and would start to see itself manifest now where the chemistry seems like it’s super high. If you’ve got guys that are often injured and can’t practice, missing reps, or taking themselves out, you’re not going to get that for a young quarterback that needs that.”
Lawrence, 23, began his year with 10 touchdowns, six interceptions, and an 84.8 passer rating through the first eight games. In his last seven, Lawrence has 14 touchdowns, one interception, and a 108.2 passer rating.
In recent weeks, the Jaguars have thrown more wrinkles into their offense and Taylor says that says a lot about the players too.
“The biggest part of this thing is the character of those guys,” Taylor said. “The guys that are involved, the quarterback, everybody being able to handle a lot of things. We can put a lot on their plate because they’re professional in their approach, their day-to-day process, the way they play, the way they can adjust within the game.”
The Jaguars currently rank sixth in total offensive yardage and 11th in points scored.