Trevor Lawrence embraces leadership role, confident Jaguars can rebound vs. Ravens

Even though Trevor Lawrence was dealing with an ankle sprain, he suited up for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the loss to the Cleveland Browns. However, he didn't use it as an excuse and held himself accountable for his subpar outing. Following two straight losses, he says he's confident that he and the Jacksonville Jaguars can bounce back.

"I have a lot of confidence in those guys in our offense in bouncing back this week," Lawrence told the media Wednesday. "There was a lot of things that we didn't do well out there in all aspects of the game. The good thing is, what I've learned through playing for a while now is the tape is usually never as good or as bad as you think, so you watch it and it is what it is. There's corrections, there's things that we did in the game that are uncharacteristic, and mistakes all the way around that we can't make, but it is what it is and you've got to correct them and move on."

"And same thing, when you feel like you played great, there's usually stuff on the tape where you're like, 'maybe it didn't play as good as I thought I left a lot out there,' so good or bad, you got to assess it and you got to look at it for what it is and you got to make the adjustments and corrections moving forward," Lawrence said.

Lawrence continued, "We had a great start to the day today and got practice here a little bit and be important to be sharp and just communicate and all those things which we've already fixed a lot of the issues. So I feel really good about it."

The Jags struggled with pre-snap penalties and communication issues in the loss to Cleveland. Similarly, mistakes plagued the offense and routinely held the offense back throughout the game. Lawrence, in particular, overthrew a handful of passes in one of his worst performances of the season, completing just 56 percent of his passes for 257 for three touchdowns and three interceptions, along with a measly 5.6 yards per attempt.

Later in the exchange with the media, Trevor Lawrence talked about showing his frustration on a play in which miscommunication with wide receiver Calvin Ridley led to a turnover. He says he tries to "keep his emotions out of stuff like that," and that he isn't exempt from making mistakes, acknowledging he's made some bad ones. However, it's his role as a leader to point out when someone isn't executing.

"Where I've made some mistakes, and bad mistakes, and guys come out of the field to in me, so I've always tried to keep the right perspective but I do think as a leader, it's important at certain times to show your frustration in there, there needs to be a sense of urgency to correct things into play better," Lawrence said.

The Jaguars need to clean up mistakes if they want to pull off the upset vs. the Ravens

While the Baltimore Ravens aren't flawless, they're the team to beat in the AFC. They rank second in the league in both points surrendered and total yards. Moreover, they lead the NFL in sacks with 49, so they could prove to be a tough test for a Jaguars offensive line that gave up four sacks and 18 total pressures in the Browns game.

Working in Jacksonville's favor is that Ezra Cleveland and Walker Little were back at practice Wednesday. Similarly, Trevor Lawrence was a full participant. If Little lines up at tackle Sunday, Cleveland could return to his familiar left guard spot. Having them back in the fold would ensure Steezy Trev has enough time to throw. That said, it won't matter if he has good protection if he overthrows passes, or if communication isn't on point.

As Lawrence noted, the Jags need to play with a sense of urgency. Head coach Doug Pederson told the media Wednesday that four games are enough to build momentum toward the playoffs, and he's right. This Jaguars team has shown it can play at a high level, but it's also displayed inconsistency throughout the year.

If the Jacksonville Jaguars can cut down on mistakes, and play up to their talent, they should be able to keep up with the Ravens when they welcome them at TIAA Bank Field on Sunday Night Football.

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