Jaguars must have patience with Trevor Lawrence but can’t wait for long

Some players need more time to develop than others but NFL teams can’t perpetually wait when you consider that the end goal is to win football games. In particular, Trevor Lawrence has plenty of upside but he hasn’t yet become the franchise quarterback he was expected to be coming out of college. Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson knows Lawrence has still plenty of time to put it together but is also aware they can’t wait for him forever.

Pederson told the media that progress takes time but players are still expected to produce. He then added that it’s up to the coaching staff to make sure there’s steady improvement.

“There’s got to be patience with that. Can’t wait too long”, Pederson said. “But at the same time, it’s our job as coaches to make sure he’s improving every week and pointing out the good and the bad and that’s just how you grow. That’s just how you learn”.

Later in the exchange, Pederson said players nowadays have a short window of time when compared to his playing days.

“I remember my days in Green Bay under [Mike] Holmgren, Andy Reid, coaches like that. Learning just that system. It was very vanilla basic compared to what we’re teaching today. We always said three years, we always said that’s the benchmark but I don’t think you have three years. You’ve got to get your players ready to go now. And there has to be a subtle improvement right, there has to be. You can’t just put it all on one player. We know that it takes off three phases to win games”, Pederson said.

It’s easy to forget this is Year 2 for Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence

Pederson brought up a key point about not just the development of a quarterback but pretty much every process: There must be a steady improvement and Trevor Lawrence has shown it. Sure, he’s coming off a pretty bad two-week stretch in which he’s turned the ball over a concerning seven times but he showed growth in the three weeks prior.

In fact, both the media and fans were talking about how Lawrence had arrived right after the Jags beat the Los Angeles Chargers, and just two weeks later, there have been discussions about him being a bust. It’s unrealistic to think that the former Clemson Tiger went from playing like a Pro Bowler to replacement level in the snap of two weeks. A more reasonable conclusion is that he’s made strides but still has a way to go. Pederson himself said not long ago that he’s not worried about the young passer at all.

Also, a two-week sample is too short to assess a player accurately. Does Lawrence need to play better? Absolutely, but he just made his 22nd NFL start and is still learning the nuances of the position. It would be one thing if he were regressing but that’s not the case. It hasn’t been perfect and he’s made his fair share of mistakes over the last five weeks but he’s trending in the right direction.

As Pederson said, Lawrence has to deliver at some point but the Jaguars can’t just give up on him at the midpoint of his sophomore campaign. After his third or fourth season, probably. But for the time being, the Jags must focus on their Week 6 matchup. If they manage to beat the Indianapolis Colts and Lawrence has a good outing, you won’t hear much about him being a scrub… at least for another week.