Trevor Lawrence turns heads at Jaguars mock game with outstanding play

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence has been the subject of criticism the past few months, and rightly so. He's coming off a pair of underwhelming seasons, and he'll need to bounce back if the Jacksonville Jaguars want to challenge the Houston Texans for the AFC South title in 2025. The good news is that No. 16 just had a strong outing that makes you think that he can indeed help the Jags steer the ship in the right direction.

While Travis Hunter stole the spotlight because he practiced on offense and defense the same day, Lawrence turned heads with his jaw-dropping play.

How did Trevor Lawrence fare at the Jaguars mock game?

John Shipley of Sports Illustrated gave Lawrence's performance a rave review, noting that he had an impressive outing in spite of a Brian Thomas Jr. drop. Here's the skinny.

"This is a scenario where Trevor Lawrence always should have shined -- it is a scripted game against the backup defense with only a partially-filled stadium bowl, so it was not exactly a high-pressure situation," Shipley wrote. "With that said, Lawrence was absolutely fantastic throughout the course of the scrimmage and deserves his flowers... sans one throw."

Shipley continued, "Were it not for a Brian Thomas Jr. drop on in the end zone on an impressive opening drive, Lawrence would have ended his day with four red-zone touchdowns. He did a complete two red-zone touchdowns to Thomas and another to Brenton Strange, while also completing impressive downfield passes for Thomas, Dyami Brown, and Travis Hunter."

You could make the case that Shipley is just one person, but the truth is that most observers were hyped up to see the fifth-year quarterback come through at the mock game.

Retired Florida Times-Union writer John Reid wrote that Lawrence played like a vested quarterback, arguing that he's already in regular-season shape.

"Trevor Lawrence going through his progressions, not eyeballing primary receiver," Reid wrote. "Brian Thomas Jr., doesn't need to play any preseason games. He's already regular-season ready. Nice scrimmage -- time to go home."

Hays Carlyon of 1010XL, who recently came up with a baffling conspiracy, was pleased with Lawrence's performance, pointing out that it was the best stadium practice in years.

For his part, Twitter user @Jaxonfil argues that if this is the Lawrence that the Jaguars will get in the regular season, he'll feel sorry for other teams.

Trevor Lawrence is poised to have a bounce-back season with the Jaguars

One of the biggest questions surrounding Trevor Lawrence in the offseason was whether he was going to be back from the AC sprain he sustained in 2024. This was a legitimate concern because he has struggled to stay healthy, and he would need to be fully recovered if he wanted to have a shot at regaining his place in the top-10 quarterback conversation.

Although Lawrence dealt with soreness in the offseason program, he stated that he was the healthiest he's been in a while to start training camp. Couple that with his improved footwork, and it's easy to see why he looked sharp at the mock game. He now needs to keep building his rapport with Travis Hunter, Dyami Brown, and Brian Thomas Jr.

If he does (and if he stays healthy), the Jaguars offense has a chance to be stoppable in 2025.

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