Doug Pederson and Jaguars players say they believe Trevor Lawrence is still the face of the franchise in Jacksonville.
It’s safe to say Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence didn’t have the season many hoped for.
Lawrence went into the season as a dark horse candidate for the MVP award. But after the 2023 season, talking heads will spend the offseason deciding if he’s even a top 10 signal caller.
It’s clear he and the Jaguars have plenty of room to grow, but those in the Jacksonville organization say they aren’t worried about the man under center.
“Everybody is going to have an opinion, that’s the world now,” Jaguars tight end Evan Engram said Monday. “Everybody has access to getting their opinions out there … from what I see, as a player in this locker room, a player in the trenches, on the field, he’s our guy.”
In 16 games, Lawrence passed for 4,016 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. He completed 65.6 percent of his passes, took 35 sacks, and added four rushing touchdowns. Lawrence’s shortcomings weren’t solely his fault, however.
Among a slew of issues was his chemistry, or lack thereof, with first-year Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley. They showed flashes, individually and together, but a shortened offseason didn’t make their job any easier.
“Obviously we only had one year together; sometimes we weren’t there because we didn’t have the chemistry.” Ridley said. “I came straight out of suspension. Just one day, they told me I could come back. I drove, I flew here, everything was fast for me.
“We worked as hard as we could with the time and honestly, we worked ourselves tired. … We did everything, and unfortunately we didn’t get the results that we wanted. We worked for it, though.”
Ridley ended the season with 76 catches for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns.
Pederson pointed to turnovers as a point of emphasis, calling it “the biggest thing that he has to focus on moving forward.” Lawrence echoed his coach’s message because minimizing turnovers can result in more wins.
“I’ve got to own my part, and I’ve got to take better care of the ball; that’s going to give us a better chance to win a lot of these games,” Lawrence said. “In this league, if the quarterback plays well, it gives you a chance every week, and I can do a better job of just being consistently the player I know I can be.”
Pederson said there were games where more was asked of Lawrence, but he didn’t think they asked too much of the third-year quarterback.
“He’s very capable of handling what we gave him,” Pederson said. “Trevor is very capable, and we’re very confident with that and with him.”
Lawrence is set to play the 2024 season on the fourth and final season of his rookie contract, although the Jaguars have the option in a few months to pick up a fifth-year option and keep him under contract through 2025. The team is also allowed now to sign the quarterback to an extension, if it decides that Lawrence really is the Jaguars’ passer for the foreseeable future.
