Jacksonville fell just short of earning its first win in 2021 against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night, and while the 24-21 loss was a painful one, it represented a step forward for rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Lawrence was kept out of the end zone through the air (though he did score once on the ground), but he also avoided turning the ball over for the first game in his professional career. That’s directly after giving it away four times in last week’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Coach Urban Meyer said he was pleased to see progress from his passer, even if the Jags couldn’t come away victorious.
“Yeah, he’s fantastic,” Meyer said. “He’s a hard worker and obviously (Passing Game Coordinator Brian) Schottenheimer’s doing a really good job with him. The best thing was he took care of the ball, made the right decisions. He used his legs when necessary. You think (about) the first couple of games, that wasn’t existent. He scrambled to the right, threw the ball down the field. He got a couple first downs with his legs. He got down when he should’ve gotten down. He scored a touchdown. He’s playing ‘Trevor.’ He’s playing like Trevor’s skill set. [It’s] fantastic and the team sees it, you see it at practice. (He’s a) marked, very marked improved player right now.”
Some rookie growing pains were to be expected from Lawrence this season, and he’s managed to find some production as a first-year player despite that, throwing for five touchdowns so far.
As Meyer said, Lawrence had some success on the ground on Thursday, as well, which was a major element of his game at Clemson in college but had been largely absent from his professional repertoire before this week.
The young quarterback is improving, and the Jaguars need to put him in better situations moving forward so they can find more success as a team.
