One of the things that stood out in the Week 2 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals (and not for good reasons) was Brian Thomas Jr.'s evident dearth of effort. The sophomore was credited with several drops throughout the game. If he had fought for a few of them, there's a strong chance the Jacksonville Jaguars would've won.
It would be one thing if Thomas didn't get the ball, but Trevor Lawrence has targeted him often. Heck, he's been the most targeted Jaguar, regardless of the position, dating back to the opener. Yet, he doesn't have much to show for it.
The Jaguars must be worried about theTrevor Lawrence-Brian Thomas Jr. connection
Even though the Jaguars had a strong training camp overall, Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas Jr. struggled to build a rapport. At the time, it wasn't necessarily a reason for concern. After all, the former missed nearly half of the 2024 season, so he couldn't work on his connection with the latter. It was fair to assume that the two would be on the same page by the opener, but that hasn't been the case.
In two games, Thomas has been targeted 19 times but has hauled in only a measly five receptions for 60 yards. That's not the kind of production you expect from someone who was expected to join Justin Jefferson and Ja'Marr Chase in the top echelon of wide receivers in the NFL.
Granted, Lawrence has been inaccurate at times, but Thomas is most definitely not making an attempt to fight for the ball. It's hard to tell what's wrong with him. He says he's in a great space, but his play doesn't reflect it.
For his part, Lawrence told the press corps after the loss that he'll continue to target Thomas, pointing out that he needs to get his playmakers the ball. Here's the skinny. 132
"I mean, he's a great player, so it's always going to be part of our plan to get him involved," Lawrence said after the loss (1:32 mark). "So I think you saw that early, and then as the game goes, we have a lot of guys that are dynamic, that can do things with the ball, so we feel we can move people around. And the way games go, the ball just kind of finds who's open and on third downs. And we have a lot of moving parts and the guys moving around the field, and I thought we had a good plan to get guys open."
Lawrence continued, "And just for whatever reason, I don't really, I guess I didn't notice that kind of low in the middle of the game for him getting the ball, but my job is to find the guy that's open and try to get him the ball and move on. And obviously, there's a big plan for us. For that to be BT because he's a great player and can win his one-on-ones."
It's refreshing to hear Lawrence is confident they'll make their connection work. They'll next have a chance when the Jaguars face the Houston Texans in Week 3. If they deliver, all this conversation about their lack of chemistry will be moot. But if they don't, they'll be under even more scrutiny.