Following a pair of injury-marred seasons, pressure is mounting on Trevor Lawrence to bounce back and prove he's the quarterback the Jacksonville Jaguars thought he was coming out of Clemson.
To help him, the Jags made upgrades to Lawrence's supporting cast. Moreover, they hired Liam Coen as the head coach to help him hone his mechanics. Based on the early results, it's all paying off, and No. 16 seems to be resembling the quarterback that helped the Tigers win the college championship as a freshman.
The Jaguars are helping Trevor Lawrence play like QB that went No. 1 overall in 2021
Mia O'Brien of ESPN shared her observations from Day 18 of training camp, and one stood out. She says that Trevor Lawrence looks more carefree in the pocket, pointing out that the fifth-year quarterback had an up-and-down practice but looks more natural throwing on the run, like he did in Clemson. Below's the skinny.
"Statistically, an up-and-down day for Trevor Lawrence (this will once again send many of you into a panic). Several balls off receivers' hands, multiple sacks (more of that on a second)," O'Brien said. "But here's my big takeaway: in the last week in particular, Lawrence has looked much more natural throwing on the run, akin to what he looked like at Clemson. 'The 'playing backyard football and figuring stuff out' vibe that was a part of his MO coming out of school?"
O'Brien said. "You can see that again (especially on a throw to Brenton Strange today in which Lawrence evaded Foye Oluokun, left his feet and zipped a pass to Strange). Do you always want to see Lawrence working out of structure? No. But I believe him looking freer and 'having more fun' = perhaps Coen is tapping into who Lawrence truly is/was."
Coming out of college, Lawrence was dubbed the most talented quarterback to enter the NFL since Andrew Luck. He had all the traits you want at the position, the production to go with it, and plenty of highlights on Clemson's path to the NCAA College Championship game.
However, he's dealt with lots of unexpected developments that have raised questions about his ceiling. When the Jags drafted him, Urban Meyer was his head coach, and he had no idea how to properly run an NFL team. Then, Doug Pederson took over, and the Knoxville, Tennessee native showed improvement.
But then, Pederson delegated Lawrence's development to protege Press Taylor, and he showed a noticeable regression in 2024. The fact that he played hurt the past two years didn't help matters. But now, after four years and only one playoff win, pressure is mounting on him to live up to expectations.
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Liam Coen and the Jaguars are getting the most out of Trevor Lawrence
Of course, Trevor Lawrence deserves some of the blame. After all, you cannot expect him to only play at a high level when everything around him is perfect. That said, he's routinely had to put the team on his shoulders because the Jacksonville Jaguars didn't give him enough help. The good news is that the new regime has made an aggressive effort to buck the trend and is doing everything it can to put its quarterback in a position to succeed.
As noted before, the front office gave Lawrence a better supporting cast, but the improvement he's shown in the offseason and training camp stems from Liam Coen's tutelage.
Coen has a reputation for getting the most out of his quarterbacks at both the collegiate level (Will Levis) and the pros (Matthew Stafford and Baker Mayfield). His work with Lawren appears to be paying off.
Early in the offseason, the pair worked on his footwork. More recently, they made his progressions an emphasis. Rightly his progress hasn't gone unnoticed.
Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media heaped massive praise on Coen's coaching, while Steve Palazzolo of the Check the Mic podcast thinks Lawrence could go through a career arc similar to Andrew Luck's. Couple that with Mia O'Brien's recent comments, and it's possible that this will be his best season in the pros.
Now, Trevor Lawrence has yet to suit up for a regular-season game, but based on how things are unfolding, the Jaguars should be feeling bullish about their quarterback.