Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence among team captains for 2021

The 2021 NFL season is less than a week away and the Jacksonville Jaguars just checked another item on their to-do list. Head coach Urban Meyer met with the local media Wednesday and announced the team has named their team captains for the 2021 regular season. In total, the Jags chose six captains, and Meyer says they were voted by their teammates.

• QB Trevor Lawrence
• DE Josh Allen
• WR Marvin Jones Jr.
• S Rayshawn Jenkins
• CB Shaquill Griffin
• C Brandon Linder
• LB Myles Jack

Maybe the biggest surprise on the list is Lawrence, who is the only rookie to be voted Jaguars captain this season. Then again, the top overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft has earned rave reviews from his teammates and coaches throughout the offseason. If anything, it might have been worrisome if he hadn’t gotten the honor. Lawrence has looked unfazed in his transition to the pros, and his teammates acknowledged it by naming him captain.

Center Brandon Linder were other expected picks. A third-round pick in the 2014 draft, he’s one of the longest-tenured players in the organization. Not long after the announcement, the Jags’ equipment manager posted on social media that Linder was the first-ever Gold captain in team history. As vice president of communications Amy Palcic noted, the stars on the patch represent the number of times a player has been named team captain, and the ‘C’ becomes gold if a player has achieved the feat five times.

The Jacksonville Jaguars got their captains right.

Even though Mack was drafted by the previous regime, Meyer considers him a key cog not just on defense but on the whole team. Back in June, he met with the local media and described him as an “alpha leader and a stud”. The same is true for third-year EDGE defender Josh Allen.

"You need your Josh Allens and Myles Jacks to be who they are. And when I talk about core players, everyone wants to talk about free agency and the NFL draft. But I always try to make sure we mention the guys that I see core players."

Also noteworthy is the fact that Jenkins, Griffin, and Jones got the nod even though they joined the team this offseason. Meyer has constantly praised Griffin and Jenkins for setting the tone in the secondary and becoming the leaders of the unit. On the other hand, Jones has become a veteran presence in Jacksonville’s wide receiver corps. Then again, his value goes beyond the mentorship he offers to his younger teammates. As sophomore Laviska Shenault Jr. previously noted, he’s a darn good player going into his tenth year.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a young team in the early stages of a rebuild. Still, Meyer was aware this team had some talented players on the roster last season, and he’s made sure they remain part of the team’s core. Naming their captains was one of the last few things the Jags had to do before they face off against the Houston Texans in Week 1 of the regular season, where they are a 3.0-point favorite.