JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Trevor Lawrence is the first to admit that the start to his NFL career has been a bit underwhelming.
There have been injuries and multiple coaching staffs, bad stretches and just inconsistent performances. For the Jaguars to reverse course from their woeful last year and a half (5-19 record), they need Lawrence to play like he’s capable of. First-year head coach Liam Coen did good things with the Tampa Bay offense last season, and he likes the potential of Lawrence.
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Time on the field is limited during OTAs, but Lawrence said that he has liked the offense and the nuances of what Coen and offensive coordinator Grant Udinski have put in. Now, it’s just about ingesting it so that the system, the third different one in five NFL seasons for Lawrence, becomes second nature to him.
“I really like it. It has a lot of answers. It’s great. It puts a lot on the players. You have to know your stuff, but it gives you all the answers. You don’t feel like you are stuck in a play that’s not set up for success. It gives us a lot of answers,” Lawrence said.
“We changed the presentation a lot. A lot of things look the same. Without going into too much detail, there are a lot of things I like about it. It is definitely unlike any system that I have learned before, so it has been cool to learn, pick the coaches’ brains and try to get it down as fast as possible.”
Lawrence may not quite yet be at the crossroads of his career, but he’s certainly approaching it. The new money in his franchise-record $275 million contract has yet to officially start (he’s playing this year on the fifth-year option) but the Jaguars need him to start providing a return on that investment.
Through his four seasons in the league, Lawrence has been a elite for a period of roughly 18 games across the 2022 and ’23 seasons. During that stretch, Jacksonville went 14-4, rallied to win the AFC South and had one of the biggest playoff comebacks in NFL history. But since starting the 2023 season 8-3 and briefly holding the top seed in the AFC, both Lawrence and the Jaguars have bottomed out. They had arguably the league’s worst defense in 2024, and the offense was was, at best, subpar. Jacksonville went 4-13 and seldom looked like it was in alignment. Lawrence said that his body of work hasn’t been up to what he’d like it to be, but that this restart feels promising.
The offensive line, a major issue during Lawrence’s career, has been overhauled. Receiver Brian Thomas Jr. is coming off a record-setting rookie season. Jacksonville signed promising pass catcher Dyami Brown in free agency, and then traded up to draft electric two-way star Travis Hunter.
“It is the situation we are in [he said of the reset]. I really like the people that we have here now. I love the system. I love the staff, the players that we brought in and the guys that were already here,” Lawrence said. “I feel very confident in where we are going and the trajectory we are heading. You can’t change the past. Of course, I would have loved to have a little more success up to this point to answer your question, but the reality is this is where we are at. And I love where we are at.”
Lawrence has struggled with injuries (two concussions, knee and shoulder problems) and poor coaching. Former head coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor stagnated over their last season and a half in town. And consider that Lawrence’s rookie season was played under Urban Meyer, who is in the running for the worst NFL head coaching hire in league history.
That’s why the hire of Coen has been lauded as key in helping Lawrence get to the point where Jacksonville thinks he can be. Lawrence has been limited in his return from shoulder surgery (his nonthrowing shoulder) and just getting back into the physical grind.
“Mentally, he’s done a phenomenal job. This guy, in terms of his work ethic, what he’s put into this thing on his own time, while he’s here, the play calls, handling the load, all that stuff, I’ve been very impressed with,” Coen said.
Coen and Udinski have said that minicamp and OTAs are nowhere near what players will be expected to know once training camp arrives in July. Even a couple of interceptions in Monday’s open OTA thrown by Lawrence were nothing to worry about for coaches.
“He’s done a heck of a job studying for practices and meetings. It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of work to learn the system and to get to the point where it’s second nature,” Udinski said.
“Where he is out there playing and not thinking, and he can process things at that speed he will play at. It’s still a work in progress. We have a way to go, and we have time to build that. He’s done a great job putting in the effort, putting in the time to get to where he is right now.”
