Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence says last year was a blur, excited for 2022

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence had a rookie year to forget but he’s put it behind him and is excited about what he and the Jacksonville Jaguars can accomplish in the 2022 NFL season.

Lawrence met with the local media Wednesday and was asked about how different the vibe around the locker room feels right now. He says he doesn’t recall much and instead used the opportunity to praise his current teammates and the coaching staff. “This last year’s such a blur. It’s hard to remember the exact feel at this point before game one last year”, Lawrence said.

"I can’t even tell you comparing it to that but I know it was a good feeling here. The guys are excited to be here. Our team is really close, along with our coaching staff. I think all get along really well… a lot of confidence in here and that’s exciting. All the guys are excited to get going."

Cracks in Urban Meyer’s approach to coaching started to pop up before the start of the 2021 season. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported at the time that Meyer was drawing “sideway looks” from head coaches and league executives for a series of questionable decisions he had previously made. Similarly, his tenure in Jacksonville was off to a rocky start when he announced Chris Doyle, a strength and conditioning coach that had no business training players, was joining his staff.

Meyer was ultimately given the boot last December and the Jaguars went 3-14, in part because of the toxic environment he created during his short stint in Jacksonville, which was filled with several controversies on and off the football field. Here’s Lawrence’s whole exchange with the media.

Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence is right not to dwell in the past

Throughout his football career, Lawrence has proven to be a class act, and he wasn’t going to suddenly throw Meyer under the bus. In fact, he could have raised the issue several times last year but opted not to. As the face of the franchise, what he says carries plenty of weight and he could have drawn attention to the situation.

In fact, when Meyer benched running back James Robinson, it was the quarterback the one who asked why wasn’t the Jaguars’ best player at the time on the football field, which led to Robinson getting plugged back.

But that’s not the only reason why last year might be fuzzy for Lawrence. At the time, he was undergoing his transition into the pros, and he had to take on a lot of info and make several adjustments. Quarterbacks must process a lot of data, and even though he didn’t show it, he could have felt underwhelmed.

In the end, Lawrence is taking adopting the right approach. Meyer’s tenure with the Jags was a failure, and other than learning from the mistakes he made, it doesn’t make much sense to look back at last year. After all, the Jaguars have a new head coach in Doug Pederson, one that has helped them get rid of the stench his predecessor left and is putting the team in a position to succeed.

Looking at what Pederson has done for the Jags in the past few months, it’s difficult not to get excited, just like Lawrence, about the things they can do in 2022. The regular season is around the corner and they don’t have much time to think about the past, as they will be preparing to take on the Washington Commanders in Week 1.