Tag: David Garrard

Trevor Lawrence is Jaguars’ first AFC Offensive Player of the Week in 12 years

The last Jaguars player to earn AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors was quarterback David Garrard.

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Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence snapped an unflattering streak for the franchise Wednesday when he was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Lawrence, 22, completed 71.8 percent of his passes for 262 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 115.5 passer rating in the 38-10 win.

He’s the first Jaguars player to earn AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors since quarterback David Garrard got the distinction for throwing for 260 yards and four touchdowns in a 2010 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

In the 12 years since Garrard’s award-winning day, the Jaguars have seen big performances out of players like Maurice Jones-Drew, Justin Blackmon, Leonard Fournette, and even quarterbacks Blake Bortles and Gardner Minshew. However, only defensive players and special teamers for the Jaguars have been named an AFC Player of the Week since 2010.

Lawrence had tough competition for the award in Week 3 as Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw for 218 yards with four touchdowns and ran for another 107 yards with a touchdown. Lawrence was the more efficient passer and Jackson threw an interception in the Ravens’ 37-26 win over the New England Patriots.

Last year, Jaguars pass rusher Josh Allen earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors when he recorded a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery against the Buffalo Bills. Kicker Matthew Wright was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week three games prior to that when he made field goals from 53 and 54 yards in the final four minutes of a win against the Miami Dolphins.

Jaguars who earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors prior to 2010 include Jones-Drew, Fred Taylor , Mark Brunell, James Stewart, and Natrone Means.

Maurice Jones-Drew says 2007 Jags should have gone to the Super Bowl

The former Jacksonville running back thinks the teams 2007 run ended too soon when it lost to the undefeated New England Patriots.

The 2007 season was one of the best in franchise history for the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was the last time the team won 11 games, and the group stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road in a cold January night game in the AFC Wild Card round.

The run ended in the Divisional Round against the New England Patriots, who were coming off a 16-0 regular season, the first and only team to do so since the expansion to 16 games. But one key member of that Jaguars team thinks the run ended too soon.

On an episode of The Volume Sports Network’s ‘Catching Fades with Aquib Talib,’ former Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who alongside Fred Taylor led an explosive Jaguars backfield, said that the 2007 squad should have gone to the Super Bowl.

“When I got to the National Football League [after success in college] and I’m in Jacksonville, it was 2007. We used to have, they called it a Rookie Tuesdays and it’d be at a rookie’s house,” Jones-Drew said. “Everyone would come over, we’d gamble, watch TV hang out, just have a good get-together. We tried to keep that tradition going after, but that 2007 team – we should have went to the Super Bowl. We should’ve won it all.”

The Patriots, who won the Divisional Round game 31-20, went on to play in Super Bowl XLII, which they lost to the New York Giants in what remains one of (if not the) biggest Super Bowl upsets in NFL history. But Jones-Drew said the Jaguars had what it took to beat that New England team.

“We were right there in New England, we had them beat. Right. One play away,” the former Jaguar said.

“But what I loved about it was [former defensive tackle] John Henderson opened a club. We’d always meet at the club on Sunday after the games. Right. We went 11-5 that year and beat Pittsburgh twice in Pittsburgh, but it was a family-type atmosphere.”

Jacksonville couldn’t replicate its success the following season. Quarterback David Garrard never developed into anything more than a competent passer, and the team fell to 5-11 in 2008. It didn’t finish above .500 (or make the playoffs) again until 2017.

“But what broke us apart was money, right. We needed guys to get paid. They didn’t get paid, they ended up paying guys from outside that ruined it, but that year was special,” Jones-Drew added.

“That 2007 team, like we had it and we just we just messed it up right at the end but it was a great time.”

Though fans can only look back at 2007 and wonder what could have been, they’ll hope that the new regime will get the team back on track sooner  rather than later.