Can Lawrence Revive His Deep Ball For the Jaguars' Offense?

After back-to-back weeks of deep misses, can Trevor Lawrence get back on track for the Jacksonville Jaguars?

Sep 29, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) attempts a pass as Houston Texans defensive tackle Khalil Davis (94) applies defensive pressure at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Where has Trevor Lawrence's deep ball gone?

That was the biggest question following the Jacksonville Jaguars' 24-20 loss to the Houston Texans in Week 4. After weeks of the Jaguars' offensive ecosystem failing around Lawrence, his supporting cast stepped up in Houston. Lawrence, though, missed more of his deep shots than he almost ever has.

After grading out as one of the NFL's best deep passers in 2023, Lawrence had a hot start to 2024. In the first two weeks, Lawrence completed 6-of-8 deep passes for 190 yards and a touchdown. In many aspects, the deep ball was the one thing working for the Jaguars in Weeks 1 and 2.

The last two weeks have seen less success, however. Lawrence was 0-for-2 on deep passes in the 47-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 3, and then Sunday happened.

Sunday saw Lawrence miss two potential touchdown passes -- one to Christian Kirk and one to Brian Thomas -- in what ended up being a one-score game.

Neither play was a high-percentage pass to begin with by any means, but even Lawrence conceded after the game that his 1-of-6 effort on deep shots was not good enough.

"Sometimes you don't hit all those shots and I expect to, though, because I know I need to do that and you're not going to hit them all but you got to hit more than I did today," Lawrence said on Sunday.

"I have to be better for my teammates and I understand that and I put a lot on myself to do that and I got faith that it'll happen and I'm going to start playing like I know I can."

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson brought up the Kirk miss Monday as a part of a larger point about how he is going to approach fixing Lawrence's current critical issue.

“Great example for me with him and really with any quarterback: so, we missed Christian early in the third quarter. I think it was the second play, right? We missed him on a deep, I mean, maybe scores. I don't know," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Monday.

"The easy thing would have been second-and-10, run the football. I'm not going to do that. I mean, yes, I will, but in this case, no, I want Trevor—you’ve got to put the ball in his hands, right? He's our guy and you’ve got to put the ball in his hands and we're going to continue to trust him. I’m going to continue to do that."

As Pederson explained, Lawrence isn't doing things like misreading coverages or putting the ball in harm's way. According to Pro Football Focus, Among 33 quarterbacks with at least 50 drop-backs in 2024, Lawrence ranks No. 15 in turnover worthy play rate.

Not great, or even good, but certainly not the massive rate he has had in the past.

"So, the next play we throw it again, but he was high to Gabe. So, these are all lessons that he as a player has to understand, and the adversity that's going to come with, ‘Oh shoot, I just missed that one, but Coach might dial up another one on this play. Let me make that.’ You have to kind of flush the first one to make the next one," Pederson said.

"He's seeing the field well. We're just not hitting and, as coaches, as players, those are plays we just have to make. And listen, he would stand up here and tell you the same thing. So, I don't think I'm speaking out of turn when I say that he knows he's got to make those throws. Those are NFL, big-time throws. So, we’ve just got to keep working. He does it in practice during the week. He works with those guys when special teams are going, or defense is going. Yeah, I think the more we keep working at it, the better the chance is of hitting them in the future.”

Our Jaguars on SI beat writer John Shipley requested 15 minutes to sit down and discuss with general manager Trent Baalke the future of the franchise.

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