The Jacksonville Jaguars witnessed the Trevor Lawrence experience firsthand in the 27-24 overtime win over the Arizona Cardinals: The fifth-year quarterback put together a handful of scoring touchdowns and made enough plays to give his team a chance to come on top. On the other hand, he made several head-scratching mistakes that prevented the Jags from putting away their NFC West opponent for good.
Lawrence ended up completing 60.0 percent of his throws for 256 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions, along with a lost fumble return for a touchdown, adding 29 rushing yards on five carries. That ultimately was good enough to win, which is probably why head coach Liam Coen didn't sound overly worried about the turnovers. In fact, it seems like he's encouraging the former Clemson Tiger to keep playing the way he is.
Liam Coen is pleased with Trevor Lawrence's performance in the win vs. the Cardinals
Following the win over the Cardinals, Liam Coen met with the local media. He said that let Trevor Lawrence play, noting that he was pleased with his quarterback's resolve.
"I just hit him a few times after a few of them. I was just like, 'Dude, just keep chucking it, man.' Like, what are we going to do?" Coen told reporters (4:21 mark). "I mean, he was bummed, he was pissed about it, but he kept saying confidently, like, I feel good, like, I'm throwing it good. I'm seeing it good. Buddha [Baker] made an unbelievable play on the third down where he picked us off. We ran, kind of everybody sitting at the sticks type play. And he was playing in between Austin Trammell and the seam stop, the sitdown."
Coen continued, "I think it was Parker, I believe, or Jacoby. And I thought Buddha made a great play on that one. And the one in the red zone, obviously. Gets tipped. We march right down the field to start the second half. We go, bang, bang, bang, bang, throwing the ball, and then we get a tip pick on the six-yard line on his play. That's a touchdown. So those are just the ebbs and flows of an NFL game on the road, and we pulled out a win."
For all the mistakes Lawrence made, he also deserves praise for helping the Jags crawl out of the hole he put them in, showing that he can make precision throws in his touchdown passes and keep drives alive with his legs.
The Jaguars are in good hands with Trevor Lawrence at the helm
It can be infuriating to watch Trevor Lawrence at times because of how inconsistent he's been. That said, he's doing what quarterbacks are supposed to: Finding ways to win, and the Jags currently sit at 7-4 with him leading the way.
More importantly, No. 16 has taken ownership of his mistakes. Following the game, he acknowledged that he must do a better job of taking care of the football but also made it clear that he wasn't going to play scared.
Ultimately, Trevor Lawrence still has his work cut out. On the other hand, the Jaguars probably won't mind him having growing pains as long as he keeps improving and finds ways to win football games.