Jaguars’ Urban Meyer, Darrell Bevell, and Brian Schottenheimer To Attend Trevor Lawrence’s Pro Day
The Jacksonville Jaguars will be in attendance for Trevor Lawrence’s Pro Day, Jaguars Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell revealed on Thursday.
Bevell, while speaking with local media for the first time after being introduced as the new OC, said he, Head Coach Urban Meyer, and Passing Game Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer would all be in attendance at the Friday workout. The former Clemson Tiger passer is holding his Pro Day early and by himself. The rest of the Tigers' NFL hopefuls will workout together for the school’s Pro Day on March 11.
Lawrence has been training in Southern California and will host an early Pro Day so that he can receive surgery for a left labrum repair. The issue was discovered during a comprehensive physical. It’s on his nonthrowing shoulder and as Dr. Chris Swanson of Southeast Orthopedics in Jacksonville explained to Mia O’Brien of First Coast News last week, “Really, on the non-throwing shoulder, this should have no impact on his NFL career.”
It will have an impact on his offseason workouts, however, thus the early Pro Day. With the spread of the global pandemic, COVID-19, the NFL Combine will be a virtual event this year and all in-person meetings at clubs' facilities are canceled. Pro Day’s are the only opportunity to see the prospects in person before heading to the draft board.
While many NFL teams are expected to attend the Lawrence workout to see the receivers who will be catch for him, the quarterback is the Jags to lose. The club—in search of a franchise quarterback—owns the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming April 2021 NFL Draft. Lawrence, the 2020 Heisman runner up, is the presumed No. 1 overall pick. As such, the Jaguars will have a continent in Clemson, South Carolina to see Lawrence throw in person for the only time this offseason.
“It's gonna be different,” Bevell said of evaluating prospects in yet another strange offseason.
“I mean obviously we're gonna have to do a great job of—I think the most important thing with the Combine is the background and those kind of things. There'll still be a Pro Day that we'll be able to get to. And we, you know, we'll be there to watch all those guys throw in person. Because I think that's really important to see, you know, see the ball come out of their hands.
"But we’ll, we'll have to use all the other stuff that at our disposal. We’ll be able to use the Zoom calls, obviously will be on phone calls as well, and everything that we have. Because this is this is going to be a huge, you know, huge undertaking for us, you know. A very important pick, and we got to make a great decision.”
Bevell, who is entering his 21st season in the NFL, has coached Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks) and Matt Stafford (Detroit Lions) among others in the past. Now he’ll get a glimpse at his next passer on Friday, checking every angle of what Urban Meyer has already described as the biggest decision of their careers.
“Who we pick at that quarterback spot, that’s going to be one of the most important decisions I’ve made in my lifetime, along with the partnership of our owner and our general manager. The ones that are out there, my initial study, because I have been studying a lot, I like to use the term elite. I see some elite quarterbacks out there right now,” said Meyer, back on January 15, one day after he was hired.
Lawrence is statistically considered elite among the college ranks. He threw for over 3,000 yards in each of his three seasons at Clemson and averaged 30 touchdowns a year during that time.
Trevor Lawrence’s Pro Day will be broadcast on the ACC Network and simulcast on ESPN2 at 10 a.m.