Jaguars QB Lawrence gets a B-plus grade to open training camp
Published
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Trevor Lawrence and his Jacksonville Jaguars teammates opened training camp by taking a pop quiz.
A hundred questions, with Lawrence’s version focused on “all the stuff you have to do as a quarterback.” Adding a little pressure to the appraisal, Lawrence had roughly 12 seconds to answer each one.
He got 85 right, blaming his final score on “at least three” computer glitches.
“It was pretty difficult,” the quarterback said Wednesday. “Some of them were layups, but there were some good questions in there, some tough ones that kind of got us back going for camp and get the minds going.”
Jacksonville’s more telling tests won’t come for weeks, but the Jaguars believe their latest rebuild — the one featuring first-time head coach Liam Coen and first-time general manager James Gladstone — could be a quick one simply because players have moved on from last year’s dysfunction.
There might not have been the kind of drama that engulfed coach Urban Meyer’s lone season in Jacksonville in 2021, but it wasn’t far off.
Coach Doug Pederson refused to call plays despite owner Shad Khan making it clear he preferred to see Pederson reclaim the role from offensive coordinator Press Taylor. A seemingly worse decision was Pederson hiring defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, who asked his players to pack on pounds because “mass kicks ass.”
Throw in assistant coaches refusing to work together and Pederson openly pointing fingers at his offense in the locker room following an 18-13 loss to Cleveland in Week 2, and the season was essentially over long before September.
Cleaning up the mess could be fairly simple, especially for a team that has talent and plays in perhaps the NFL's worst division.
“I have a lot of confidence in what we’re doing here and the system, the staff, the new players we brought in, the guys that have already been here, the culture, everything we’re building here,” Lawrence said.
“I really have a lot of confidence and belief in what we’re doing, and that we’re doing it the right way, and I think that frees me up in a lot of ways and allows me to say that and feel confident about it.”
Gladstone, Coen and executive vice president Tony Boselli revamped nearly every position group, with most of the changes coming around Lawrence. He has a rebuilt offensive line that should keep him off the ground and provide more holes in goal-line and short-yardage situations. He has new receivers in speedster Dyami Brown and two-way star Travis Hunter, the second overall pick in the NFL draft.
And Coen is committed to improving the ground attack to help Lawrence, who missed seven games in 2024 because of a shoulder injury that ultimately required surgery and a concussion caused by an illegal hit.
Although everyone agrees Lawrence’s health is the key to Jacksonville rebounding from a 4-13 season, Coen sees other paths to more production. He made subtle tweaks to Lawrence’s mechanics, like having him put his left foot forward in shotgun formation, and said it’s time for the QB to start using his eyes as “a weapon.”
Lawrence will continue honing all those offseason changes during camp. He might even get a chance to improve his “B-plus” score on his next quiz.
“Ultimately, everybody wants to be coached,” Coen said. “I think we’ll see the buy in a little bit more in our games. But in the process, they have done everything we’ve asked them to do from an energy standpoint, communication.
“But so far pretty solid feedback. I think anytime there’s change, there’s probably things they don’t like, right? At the end of the day, we all understand that. That’s very normal. … Anytime a player thinks you can help them, I think ultimately that’s when they start to trust you.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl