Here is what critics are saying about Trevor Lawrence’s Week 2 performance
Jacksonville Jaguars rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence is having a bit of a difficult time adjusting to the NFL. While he has made some impressive plays, he’s also made some questionable decisions and has struggled a bit with accuracy. In Sunday’s loss against Denver, Lawrence completed just 14 of his 33 passes for a meager 118 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
A learning curve was to be expected, and the Jags certainly aren’t putting him in the best situations, but he could be playing better than he is right now. However, ESPN’s James’ Jackson isn’t being too negative. In his rundown of the rookie quarterbacks from last weekend, he said he thinks Lawrence has some positives to build from.
Lawrence completed less than half his passes en route to Jacksonville’s franchise-record 17th consecutive loss dating back to last season. His head coach, Urban Meyer, who is also experiencing Year 1 at the NFL level, has now lost consecutive games for the first time in over a decade.
Though his numbers regressed a great deal from his debut last week, Lawrence has done his best to take Jacksonville’s losses in stride.
“I think I’m processing it as good as you can,” he said Sunday.
“Obviously you want to win. Like I said, you work all week to win, and when you don’t, it’s disappointing. I feel like I’m in a good spot. I’m the same person, same mindset. Nothing has changed. Making sure I keep my confidence every week is big, and I think I have that. We’re going to get better. We’re close.”
Despite the loss, Lawrence looked comfortable linking up with Marvin Jones Jr. to put the Jaguars on the scoreboard first. This year’s top overall pick will certainly push Jacksonville closer to the win column with more connections like this.
Sporting News’ Joe Rivera was less kind, giving Lawrence a “D” grade for his play against the Broncos.
Lawrence is going to keep getting his shots as the No. 1 overall pick, though the early returns have been kind of eh at best.
After a mercurial debut in a loss, Lawrence had a daunting Week 2 task facing a very tough Broncos defense. It went about as well as you’d expect: Lawrence went 14-of-33 passing for 118 yards, a very, very early touchdown and two interceptions in the 23-13 L.
The Broncos defense is among the best in the NFL and is headed up by head coach Vic Fangio, so it wasn’t exactly a good game to get right after Lawrence’s debut. Still, it’s way early in Lawrence’s career to sound any kind of alarm bells.
Given the way Jacksonville’s offense struggled against the Texans, it was certainly ambitious to expect that the team would solve those problems overnight against a much more talented Broncos defense. Still, Lawrence needs to play better if the Jags are going to significantly improve from their one-win finish last year.
CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin has Lawrence’s stock trending down after the game, though he does say that it’s too early to make any rash judgments about the quarterback.
This doesn’t mean we’re out on Lawrence as a prospect. Repeat: This doesn’t mean we’re out on Lawrence! But how can anyone describe his NFL launch as anything but mildly underwhelming? The talent is clearly there, and he actually started Week 2 against Denver in a groove, marching right down the field for a touchdown drive. But he’s now got five picks through two starts, perhaps in part because he’s trying to compensate for a lack of help/support in other areas. Growing pains were always inevitable; you just hope, for his sake, he isn’t forced into long-term bad habits by enduring them for so long.
Benjamin’s analysis is fair, and there’s certainly some merit to the idea that Lawrence’s aggressiveness has coincided with defensive struggles and a relative lack of success running the football.
Moments like the opening drive against the Broncos serve as a reminder that Lawrence was a generational talent at the quarterback spot, but he’ll need to have those moments much more consistently moving forward.
