JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Urban Meyer wants to give Trevor Lawrence a heavier workload Monday night against the New Orleans Saints than he had a week ago when he played two series against the Cleveland Browns in last week's preseason opener.
Still, Meyer has no plans to end the ongoing quarterback competition yet between Lawrence and Gardner Minshew, who have been sharing first-team reps in training camp.
For the quarterback competition to end, Lawrence has to win the job outright, and Meyer said that's not happened yet after Day 17 of training camp.
''As soon as that happens, we'll give him the ones reps — all the one's reps,'' Meyer said.
Meyer said the deciding factor that will determine who starts at quarterback will be based on performance. Meyer said he has a timeline when he plans to name a starter, but declined to divulge it. When asked if the competition battle could go all the way through the third preseason game on Aug. 29 against Dallas, Meyer said 'I'd rather not.' ''
Lawrence and Minshew could have had an ideal competition battle this week if plans had gone through for the Jaguars to have joint practice work in New Orleans against the Saints ahead of Monday's game.
Though initially scheduled, the joint practice work was scrapped because of some undisclosed COVID-19 protocol issues, Meyer said.
''I have never done it, I heard about it,'' Meyer said. ''I've been reading about it. I hear the positives and negatives about it. I hear there are some injuries, too, you deal with. I actually talked to Sean Payton a lot about it and Coach (Bill) Belichick about it, there's certainly value in it. but also you are rolling the bones a little bit.''
Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick who went 34-2 in three seasons at Clemson, started in last Saturday's against Cleveland and completed 6 of 9 passes for 71 yards before Minshew replaced him midway in the second quarter.
Lawrence was sacked twice by the Browns and he said one of them was his own fault for holding onto the ball too long instead of throwing downfield. Meyer emphasized the offensive tempo needing to get quicker, but said he saw progress this week in practice.
Lawrence could earn his second preseason start
Lawrence could earn his second consecutive preseason start Monday night. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said Thursday Lawrence would probably get the nod.
However, Meyer was noncommittal after acknowledging that if starting offensive linemen Brandon Linder, A.J. Cann and Andrew Norwell remain out with injuries, it could impact his decision.
The Jaguars believe Cann came back with a false positive COVID-19 test and was held out of Friday's practice. And Linder has a knee injury is expected to miss the final two preseason games and Norwell remains limited with an elbow injury.
''Sure,'' Meyer said if the offensive line's injuries would impact his decision on Lawrence. ''But we have not even had that chat yet, we're just trying to get through practice right now. We have to depend on the health of our team. We talked but not in-depth yet. That's tomorrow's conversation — health of the team and then also we've got to get him (Lawrence) some reps.''
Both Lawrence, Minshew have looked sharp
Both Lawrence and Minshew have looked exceptionally sharp in practices this week. Lawrence completed all six of his throws in the 7-on-7 period Friday. Minshew was 8 of 9 Friday, after completing 14 attempts Thursday that were mostly short yardage.
Beyond the numbers, however, Lawrence has repeatedly shown to make pinpoint accurate throws that Minshew cannot complete.
When Minshew is flashed out of the pocket and rolls right, he consistently continues to scramble. When Lawrence is flushed out of the pocket and rolls out, he has shown an ability to make cross-field throws 25 to 30 yards downfield to connect with receivers.
Considered to be a generational talent and one of the best quarterback prospects since Andrew Luck, Lawrence came to camp expecting a competition battle as a first-year player.
''It doesn't bother me; I think that's the way to run a team, honestly,'' Lawrence said Friday. ''You've got to compete; the best player has to play.
But like any quarterback, Lawrence wants to get as many reps as possible to help him prepare. On Thursday, Minshew got first-team reps. On Friday, it was Lawrence's turn to work with the ones.
''Obviously, as a young guy, you want as many as you can get just because every look you get is new what's you are seeing and can learn from,'' Lawrence said. ''We're at that point now that we've been practicing for so long, it's more about getting mental reps because we can't go out there for three hours every day once the season starts.
''I think we have had great prep, a great camp and for me, I've learned a lot. I have got a lot better at decision making, taking care of the ball. The more I can get, the better.''
