COLUMN: Trevor Lawrence is the Least of the Jaguars Worries

Trevor Lawrence did everything he could to get the Jaguars a win against the Green Bay Packers, proving once again he is not the Jacksonville Jaguars' biggest problem.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) runs on the field with the team before an NFL football matchup Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Packers edged the Jaguars 30-27 on a last-second field goal. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a lot of issues after a 2-6 start.

Trevor Lawrence is far from one of them.

Any quarterback who has a 2-6 record as a starter is going to catch flak. Especially when one loses games in the fashion Lawrence and the Jaguars have, with the Jaguars sitting at a 1-4 record in one-score games.

But when going up and down the list of the issues facing the Jaguars and why they fell 30-27 to the Green Bay Packers in Week 8, Lawrence isn't near the top -- or even the middle. In fact, the fourth-year passer is near the bottom.

Yes, Lawrence helped put the Jaguars in the hole they found themselves in on Sunday. He turned the ball over twice in the Jaguars' own territory, including a fumble at the five-yard line. The turnovers resulted in 14 of the Packers' 30 points.

But the Jaguars also would not have even come within spitting distance of an upset victory without Lawrence and his penchant for bouncing back from mistakes. Despite the turnovers, Lawrence kept coming out firing. He didn't find himself cowering or hiding into his shell.

And when the chips were on the table and the Jaguars needed Lawrence to overcome two different 10-point deficits -- one in the first-half and one in the second -- he did just that. And he did it the second time without any of his top three receivers, with a backup at left tackle and without Travis Etienne.

Instead, Lawrence led a game-tying drive with two special teams-focused receivers, two tight ends, and third-string D'Ernest Johnson on the field.

“Yeah, I am. I'm very pleased at how we respond. You don't want to be down 10, but there's two weeks in a row we've been down 10, but we've responded. The fact that we did what we did at the end to tie the football game is pretty remarkable considering the amount of injuries we had late in the game," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Monday.

"Trevor [Lawrence], I thought did a great job leading the team. The guys around him, Parker, Tim [Jones], Evan [Engram], Brenton [Strange], I mean, they made plays for him too. The offensive line did some good things. So that part of it was good and now we’ve just, somehow, got to get that to translate to the first play of the game and then carry on from there.”

But despite Lawrence's heroics, the Jaguars once again came up short. The defense fell apart at the seams and allowed the Packers to get into field goal territory in just two plays.

Lawrence had his struggles at times on Sunday, but he also pushed past each negative play to put the Jaguars on his shoulders. And that is why the Jaguars' current staff doesn't have to fix Lawrence, and neither will the next one if Pederson and company are replaced.

Instead, it is Lawrence who will be the most appealing piece of a potential hiring search. And games like Sunday are exactly why.

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