You’re never going to see everything a team wants to run in the first game of the preseason, and if the team’s coaching staff is new, you’re really not going to have a sense of what the plan is for a while, based on the tape. With that caveat in mind, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offense in their 23-13 loss to the Browns should be a matter of some concern. First-overall draft pick Trevor Lawrence finished his day with six completions in nine attempts for 71 yards, two sacks, and one big play — a 35-yard completion to receiver Marvin Jones Jr.
Take that 35-yard play out, and Lawrence had a 4.5 yards per attempt average, and when you review what was designed by offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and passing game coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, it was a combination of swings and screens, the “All-stop” stuff that Amari Cooper told Dak Prescott to stop running a few years back, and long-developing isolation routes straight from Mike McCarthy’s Packers playbook. If Bevell and Schottenheimer were not going to give Lawrence designed openings in the intermediate and deep passing game, there were going to be problems.
And there were problems. Lawrence was sacked by former Jaguars defensive tackle Sheldon Day on his first NFL dropback, and he was sacked again with 1:14 left in the first quarter — this time by linebacker Porter Gustin. The 35-yard completion happened on the next play.
