After struggling in 2024, Trevor Lawrence has reminded everyone that he's a top 10 quarterback. Heck, he's even joined the MVP conversation (even if he's a long shot behind Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye). Sure, he got off to a slow (and inconsistent) start, but once he hit his stride, he's become one of the main reasons the Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the hottest teams in the NFL.
Now, the Jags sit at 12-4 with one game to go, while Lawrence is arguably playing the best football of his career. Ahead of the finale against the Tennessee Titans, head coach Liam Coen talked about the secret behind his quarterback's success.
Liam Coen has done a great job of unlocking Trevor Lawrence's potential
Liam Coen made an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show and stated that quarterbacks need time to put it all together, noting that several factors play a role in their development. Regarding Trevor Lawrence, the first-year head coach says they continuously had conversations to ensure he was in a position to succeed. Here's the skinny.
"Yeah, Trev has definitely been playing at a high level. I mean, when I first got here, we had a lot of honest, open conversations about what his goals were, where he wanted to go with it, within his career and his position," Coen told Pat McAfee. "And yeah, it took a little bit of time, and that's why so many of these quarterbacks need that time right. Timing and circumstances matter. And at the BYE Week, we just had some honest conversations about, okay, man, just cut it loose, let it rip."
Coen continued, "Whatever happens, just play the next play like we just want you to go, be aggressive. Go, be you, and that's going to be plenty good enough, man. And look, we had to tailor some things to all right. At the BYE, you're trying to figure out who you are truly, and we wanted to make sure we were doing everything we could, from a run, pass, protections, whatever it was, putting him in a position to be successful."
"But, man, the guy is playing at a high level. Man, the third-and-10 throw to Parker Washington in this game where he gets drilled right in the teeth and hits Parker on a cross and route big time throw by a big time player that's playing with a lot of confidence right now."
As Coen stated, Lawrence saw noticeable improvement after the BYE. The first seven weeks, he completed 58.7 percent of his throws for 1,620 yards with nine touchdowns and five picks. After the BYE, the fifth-year quarterback has posted a completion rate of 61.6 percent for 2,132 yards with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The difference is abundantly clear.
Related: Rich Eisen explains why the Jaguars won't reach their true ceiling until 2026
Trevor Lawrence is playing like the QB the Jaguars have envisioned for a while
Liam Coen most definitely deserves credit for knowing how to unlock Trevor Lawrence's talent. However, there are other circumstances behind his late-season surge. The biggest one is that he's grown acclimated to the head coach's system, the most complex he's been throughout his career.
The trade for Jakobi Meyers has also been huge, as Lawrence now has a sure-handed target in the middle of the field, something he lacked at the beginning of the year. On top of that, cutting it loose, as Coen told him during the BYE, has also made the difference. When you add it all up, it's not particularly shocking to see the former Clemson Tiger play at a high level.
Sure, Trevor Lawrence played at a high level at times throughout his career, but never on a consistent basis. Liam Coen is doing his best to ensure that changes moving forward.