Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson not worried about Trevor Lawrence: 'He will get better'

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has seen better days, and his youth at the quarterback position showed during the team's 13-6 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday to bring the overall record to 2-3.

Lawrence posted a pedestrian stat line, completing 25 of 47 passes for 286 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions. One interception occurred in the red zone, an area the Jaguars were shut out in 0-3, making two field goals.

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After the game, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson stated that the team needed to find a way to settle Lawrence down, making things easier and putting him in a good position to succeed.

"The thing is he sees everything. He sees the field well. We just have to continue to keep throwing and keep putting him in situations like that. He is going to get better. He will get better," Pederson said when asked about his evaluation of Lawrence on Sunday.

"I'm not worried about that at all. We have a lot of faith and trust in him, and he can definitely do the job."

Trevor Lawrence's youth plays role in success and failure this season

Through five games, Lawrence has played well in games, including the team's victories over the Indianapolis Colts and the Los Angeles Chargers in Weeks 2 and 3, respectively. During his wins, Lawrence completed 53 of 69 (76.81 percent) throws for 497 yards, five touchdowns and zero turnovers.

Over the past two weeks, though, the young signal-caller has shown some signs of youth, completing just 36 of 70 (51.43 percent) passes for 460 yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions and four lost fumbles.

On Monday, Pederson's message remained unchanged, with the Jaguars head coach citing Lawrence's youth as part of the reason for growing pains five weeks into the season.

Against Houston, Lawrence and the Jacksonville offense faced off against a cover-2 shell defense, a staple of Texans head coach and defensive play-caller Lovie Smith's defense. The defense was in cover-2 shell roughly "98%" of the time Pederson mentioned on Monday, stating that Lawrence will just need time.

"You're talking about a young quarterback that just needs time, needs reps, needs to see more of it, needs to understand that structures like that, their (defenders) eyes are always going to be looking at the quarterback, they're not going to take their eyes off the quarterback," Pederson said.

That was evident during the team's third drive of the game. Jacksonville had the ball at the Texans eight-yard-line.

On second-and-goal, Lawrence threw the ball out of the end zone in the middle of the field. Still, it was apparent that running back James Robinson was open in the flat, a potential walk-in score if the young QB opted to check the ball down.

"As a coaching staff, where we can help him is to where he can manipulate the defense with his eyes a little bit more, and still be able to find some underneath throws," Pederson said, making mention of a couple of Lawrence's deeper throws to tight ends Evan Engram and Dan Arnold on Sunday.

"There are opportunities there, but we have to continue to show him. It’s like trying to get a young team to figure out how to win, same thing."

Lawrence, like many second-year QBs before him, has struggled at times this season. That is not unlike some of the other young quarterbacks that are thought to be successful, Pederson mentioned, including the QB situation with the Cincinnati Bengals and Joe Burrow.

"You see how they took a young quarterback, struggled for a couple seasons, and then, bang. They’re right where they need to be," he said.

Still, Pederson believes the team has an opportunity this year to get better, it doesn't have to be a lost season simply because the QB or team is young. There will be some growing paints, though, and Lawrence is part of that.

"There’s a process here, and a lot of times people don’t want to wait anymore," he said. "It’s always now, and I get that. It’s a win-now mentality. It’s our job to try to speed that up the best we can through practice, through prep, and just through teaching.”

Situations such as the Philadelphia Eagles with QB Jalen Hurts is another example Pederson cited. During Hurts' second season, and first year as the team's full-time starting QB, he completed 61.3 percent of his passes for 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions, while going 8-7 on the year (Hurts missed two games last year).

This season, Hurts has completed 67.9 percent of his passes, throwing for 1,359 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. He's run the ball for 266 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. The Eagles are 5-0.

"I know that with time we’ll be there with those teams,” Pederson said.

Shaq Griffin feels defensive leaders need to lend helping hand to offense

Jacksonville's offense left much to be desired, unable to come up with scores when needed and struggling to get the job done for much of the contest. The team's defense, though, was much better off, allowing just 248 total net yards to the Texans offense, while holding them to 13 points throughout the day.

Of course, there were mistakes defensively, though. The Jaguars were unable to bring down Texans running back Dameon Pierce at the end of the contest, resulting in several missed tackles on the Texans' only touchdown drive.

Rookie outside linebacker Travon Walker was also called for a personal foul penalty on third-and-20, a chance for the defense to get off the field.

Still, the performance on the defensive side of the football, and particularly the mindset of the defense is something that can be used on the offensive side of the ball.

After the game, Jaguars cornerback Shaq Griffin spoke about the team's leadership, particularly the youth on offense and the need, perhaps, for the defensive leaders to lend a hand on that side of the football.

On defense, Griffin says the unit is "hurting, hurting bad," after yesterday's loss, everybody feels the same way. He wants the same feeling to be shared offensively.

"So the main thing is the leaders on defense gotta lead for everybody as well. Understand, we got a lot of young leaders on offense. Talking about Trevor [Lawrence], year two, I can only imagine the pressure he's under. You talk about the running back, year two," Griffin said, speaking about the youth of the team's offense.

"It's a lot of young guys who we're expecting so much from so we got to continue to help them, pick those guys up, and that's what we're gonna do. Our leaders have to step up a little bit more and we will."

The Jaguars' leaders on offense and defense try to meet every Wednesday, trying to get the team on the same message. Still, Griffin feels like it has to be a little bit more, including himself.

"We got to make it happen because a lot of people are getting tired of it [the losing]," Griffin said. "It's not just the players. [It's] coaches, it's the people in this organization, the fans, and we want it and the crazy thing is we want this so bad for everybody, it hurts, it hurts bad. We got to continue to move on. We still got a long season. We got everything in front of us and it's our choice to make it happen."

Travis Etienne posts best outing as a member of the Jaguars

There were very few bright spots Sunday for the Jaguars offense. The team was unable to put points on the board in the red zone, something Pederson cited as a reason for the team's loss.

Still, one of the better players on the field Sunday was former first-round running back Travis Etienne, who posted his best game statistically since being drafted with the No. 25-overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Etienne carried the football 10 times for 71 yards while catching three passes for 43 yards. He totaled 114 all-purpose yards, by far his best statistically outing this year.

Though Etienne was posting a great game Sunday, he received just four carries during the second half of the team's game to go along with two receptions. The four carries went for 10 yards, while his receptions went for 23 yards.

After the game, Pederson indicated that he simply has to call more runs. When asked what kind of performance Etienne had, Pederson was short and sweet on Monday: “He had a great game, he was solid.”

Ben Bartch, K'Lavon Chaisson suffer injuries

Injured in the second quarter with a knee injury, Jaguars offensive guard Ben Bartch will undergo further testing today, with a resolution made public likely Tuesday or Wednesday, Pederson said on Monday.

Bartch was initially ruled as questionable to return before being ruled out on Sunday. He was replaced by veteran guard Tyler Shatley, who competed for the starting role during training camp earlier this summer.

After the game, First Coast News reporter Andrew Badillo reported that Bartch indicated to him in the locker room on Sunday that he "dislocated his knee, but is okay."

Pederson was not asked about the extent of Bartch's injury, but it appears the young OL could miss some time.

As for Jaguars third-year pass rusher, K'Lavon Chaisson, it's been reported by NFL Media's Ian Rapoport that he will be heading to injured reserve after suffering a meniscus injury on Sunday. He will be out at least four games before being eligible to be brought back.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars coach Doug Pederson is patient with growing QB Trevor Lawrence