Jaguars HC Doug Pederson: Trevor Lawrence is a ‘proven winner’

The Jacksonville Jaguars had the development of Trevor Lawrence in mind during their head-coaching search. That’s why it made sense for them to hire Doug Pederson to fill the void left by Urban Meyer. It’s too early to tell how things are going to play out but the Jags’ newest head coach likes what he sees in the former Clemson Tiger.

Pederson recently joined former NFL quarterback and teammate Brett Favre on SiriusXM NFL Radio and discussed Lawrence. The Jaguars head coach believes his quarterback had a positive assessment of the second-year quarterback and described him as a ‘proven winner’.

"I like a lot of things about Trevor. He’s obviously young. There’s a lot of the NFL game that I think that we can continue to teach him and he can grow… and that’s the thing. As you talk to Trevor, he just wants to get better. He wants to win. He’s a proven winner. He did throughout you know, his days there at Clemson and he’s a tremendous leader inside the building with the football team, outside the building."

Pederson goes on to say that there are things Lawrence does well but also things he can clean. Similarly, the head coach wants to maintain his aggressiveness and his athleticism but wants “to teach him how to play quarterback in the National Football League”. Here’s the whole exchange if you want to give it a look.

https://twitter.com/SiriusXMNFL/status/1493714291958104065?s=20&t=OxwvVGrQtwu4WM78YVOgbw

Doug Pederson could be the best thing that happen to the Jaguars’ QB.

Right out of the gate, Favre praises Pederson and acknowledges the impact had on his football career. During his playing days, Pederson had two stints with the Green Bay Packers and he was Favre’s backup in both of them. Favre was one of the best quarterbacks of his generation and it speaks volumes that he thinks his former teammate can have a similar influence on Trevor Lawrence.

Lawrence’s less-than-stellar rookie campaign could be attributed to two things. The first one is rather obvious, he experienced a learning curve in his transition from college to the pros. But the fact that Urban Meyer didn’t have a clear plan to groom the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft might’ve hindered his development.

Pederson could indeed have a huge impact on Lawrence. He proved with the Philadelphia Eagles that he can put his quarterbacks in a position to succeed. He played a crucial role in Carson Wentz’s early career but also got the most out of Nick Foles, the Eagles’ quarterback during their Super Bowl run in 2017. You could make the case that Lawrence has a significantly higher ceiling than both Wentz and Foles, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts to Pederson’s coaching.

The Jaguars’ long-term success will be tied to Lawrence’s growth and if he gets better, they will follow suit, so it made sense that they hired someone who had a good track record working with quarterbacks as their head coach.