Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence’ trash talk approved by Doug Pederson

Facing a 17-point deficit, the Jacksonville Jaguars managed to mount a comeback and beat the Las Vegas Raiders 27-20 in Week 9 and Trevor Lawrence played a big role, completing over 80 percent of his passes and scoring a touchdown. This surely made him feel confident about engaging in some trash talk with linebacker Denzel Perryman.

Head coach Doug Pederson met with the local media Wednesday and said that he likes to see Lawrence show confidence and talk smack to opponents.

“I love it, I really do”, Pederson said. “I played with a guy that was probably king of trash-talking, back and forth, in Brett [Favre]. It’s good to see, as long as they keep it fun all of that back and forth”.

Later in the exchange, Pederson said he saw a different edge to Lawrence.

“I think he wanted to prove himself, that he’s capable of bouncing back and having that type of game. I think his mindset was right all week and handled it extremely well and he did a nice job leading our team”, Pederson said.

In case you missed it, there was a clip online in which you can see Lawrence telling Perryman, ‘I play better when you hit me’, showing he embraces the physicality of the sport and doesn’t mind taking a few shots. Here’s the clip in question.

Trevor Lawrence took another step in the right direction

Lawrence completed 25 of 31 passes for 245 yards with one touchdown. On top of that, he had six carries for 53, which made it difficult for the Raiders’ defense to contain the Jaguars’ offense. Moreover, he had the highest NFL Next Generation Stats passing score of Week 9.

One of the Jaguars’ biggest goals this season is to put Lawrence in a position to succeed and unlock his potential, and so far, things are trending in that direction. There’s been a revolving door at the quarterback position for years in Jacksonville, and if Lawrence proves he’s the longer-term answer, Jacksonville’s chances of having sustained success in the future will increase considerably.

Lawrence has struggled at times this year but he’s also made progress and showed in Week 9 that he can play at a high level and talk a bit of smack while doing so. The Jaguars will keep embracing his swagger if that leads to more wins.