Doug Pederson Stresses Patience With Trevor Lawrence's Development — Is He Right?
Doug Pederson knows how to read a room. He knows after a 13-6 home loss to an AFC South rival and the NFL's only winless team that nobody wants to hear about patience and a process.
But he also knows that is what it will take to turn around the Jacksonville Jaguars, especially at the quarterback position.
"Do I think we can have an opportunity this year to take advantage of some situations and get better as a team? I do. The team believes that. There’s a process here, and a lot of times people don’t want to wait anymore," Pederson said on Monday.
"It’s always now, and I get that. It’s a win-now mentality. It’s our job to try to speed that up the best we can through practice, through prep, and just through teaching.”
In short, Pederson knows that games like Sunday aren't acceptable to fans who want more; fans who deserve more after years of losing and ineptitude. But he also knows that the Jaguars are just five games into his tenure and, chances are, there will continue to be bumps and bruises along the way, especially for Trevor Lawrence.
Lawrence finished Sunday's game with 25-of-47 (53.2%) for 286 yards and two interceptions, giving him a quarterback rating of 54. In the past two games, Lawrence has turned it over seven times after one turnover in the first three. Lawrence's four fumbles vs. the Eagles a week previously and his red-zone interception vs. the Texans on Sunday were all chinks in the armor of a quarterback that fans thought had finally arrived after a strong first three weeks.
For the second week in a row, Lawrence making a critical mistake at the worst time was the reason for a Jaguars loss. For the second week in a row, he looked like the mistake-plagued rookie passer he was a year ago. And for the second week in a row -- and for the third time in five games -- he had the ball in his hand with a chance to win or tie but came up just short.
"He’s the type of guy that can take the hard coaching and fixes it from week-to-week. Is it always perfect? No, it’s not always perfect, but he does have that mentality," Pederson said. "He wants the ball in his hand, and we do everything we can to try to get him through that and the more he plays, the better he will get.”
How much of Lawrence's struggles at key moments can be traced back to not getting the coaching and development he should have gotten as a rookie? It is impossible to know. It is even more difficult to understand the impact the Urban Meyer era had on Lawrence's development, which can't really be understood until we see what kind of quarterback Lawrence becomes.
"It’s hard to say. I think we can speculate all we want, I wasn’t here, it’s hard to comment on it," Pederson said.
"I just know working with him this year so far that everything is there that you want in a quarterback to be successful in this league. It’s our job as staff and coaches to get him there.”
So, just how patient should the Jaguars and their base be with Lawrence? When should they expect the light to be switched and to not be in danger of switching back off like it has the past two weeks?
That answer is tough to find. But what isn't tough to comprehend is how Pederson sees Lawrence and his development. Pederson believes in continuity and stability for a young passer, and Lawrence hasn't had that in the NFL. He is on his second coach, scheme, and coordinator in as many seasons. He hasn't been given the chance to grow in one setting like Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow and other young passers who have developed by leaps and bounds in recent years.
“I mean, I think it’s all part of it. Who he is as a person, who he is as a player, what he does know and what he does not know. It’s our job as coaches to fill in those gaps for him," Pederson said. "What you love about Trevor is his work ethic. The way he competes in practice every single day, the way he competes in games, you see the toughness out there. The mental and physical toughness out there. He’s a young guy.
"Let’s go back to check him out three years ago, he was in college and had an offensive coordinator. Last year, he had another offensive coordinator and head coach. This year there’s a new head coach and offensive coordinator. There hasn’t been consistency yet, right? We’re trying to build as a team and as a unit, that consistency around him and around this team. I know that once you get there, just look around the league. Look at Cincinnati, I’ll use that as a great example. You see how they took a young quarterback, struggled for a couple seasons, and then, bang. They’re right where they need to be."
But, Lawrence isn't Mahomes, Jackson, Allen, or Burrow; he is Lawrence. And through 22 career starts, his career numbers aren't even as impressive as Gardner Minshew's were. It isn't Lawrence's fault he was given the tab of being a generational talent, but it is on Lawrence's shoulders to improve.
Can he improve with more time? Absolutely. Others have. Pederson has seen it, such as his second-year leap with Carson Wentz in 2017, or the leap Jalen Hurts has taken with the Eagles this year.
"Look at Jalen Hurts. Great example, last year he’s got a new head coach, he’s got a new coordinator. Yes, they made the postseason, and he probably went through some growing pains last year," Pederson said.
"Now, second season, same head coach, same coordinator, play caller, the whole thing. Add some more pieces around it, have consistency, things thrive. You look at the Bengals, young quarterback, things thrive. You look at the Chargers, take a young quarterback, put the pieces around, there’s consistency, things thrive. It’s a model for success in this league, it’s just where we are at the time. I know that with time we’ll be there with those teams.”
Pederson knows it takes time, and he is willing to wait it out with Lawrence. Whether the Jaguars' base is as willing is another story altogether.
