The Jacksonville Jaguars’ first minicamp practice marked a productive session although quarterback Trevor Lawrence was held out of team drills out of precaution. With the No. 1 overall pick dealing with a minor hamstring injury from last week, Jags coach Urban Meyer told the media that the team simply wanted to play it safe to prevent the issue from getting worse and holding him out longer as soft tissue injuries have a tendency to do.
“Our trainers and Schotty [passing gam assistant Brian Schottenheimer] are being a little cautious because right now when you’re a month out, you yank a hamstring now you’re going to miss the early part of the training camp,” Meyer on Monday. “That’s that one muscle that, you guys have all seen it like I have, you pull a hamstring at this point you’re going to miss all your summer conditioning so we’re being somewhat conservative on it.
“But he actually could play a game if he had to.”
Ultimately, Lawrence did participate in 7-on-7 drills, but not 11-on-11s. Most fans who are familiar with hamstring injuries certainly won’t hold that against Meyer or Lawrence as they play it safe because ultimately training camp will be the most crucial part of the rookie’s preparation.
As most competitive quarterbacks would be, Lawrence said he was frustrated about missing time, but understood the doctor’s approach.
“It’s been about a week and trying to work it back to full capacity and yeah, it’s a little frustrating just not being able to go full speed, but I’m feeling good,” Lawrence said. “I’m just trying to not have any more setbacks, so taking it slow. Got some good reps today. So start getting more and more each day this week and kind of work back into it.”
Lawrence will be able to rest his hamstring for an extensive time as the Jags have just one more minicamp practice on Tuesday, then training camp will arrive late next month. With that being the case, fans should expect the Jags to rest Lawrence for the whole day on Tuesday, or keep the same approach where he’s just a partial participant.