In the Aftermath of a Tough Loss, Pederson’s Confidence in Lawrence Remains

The experienced head coach understands that it takes time for young quarterbacks to find their stride and what he needs to do to help smoothen the process.

It is hard to talk about the Jacksonville Jaguar's Week 1 loss to the Washington Commanders without mentioning Trevor Lawrence. 

The second-year signal caller had a rough go-around and missed some critical reads and throws that could have flipped the script on this game. It was a far cry from the emphatic start that many expected from Lawrence against a vulnerable defense.

Despite the uneasy performance from the Jags franchise centerpiece, head coach Doug Pederson made it clear that there were positive takeaways beyond the stat sheet.

“I thought he did a nice job with some of our run-pass, kill, alert, things like that, managing the game that way,” Pederson said. “I thought his vision was good down the field. The nice, deep throw to Christian (WR Christian Kirk) is what I’m thinking of there. 

"Some of the things he can fix is just get through the progression a bit sooner, maybe throw the ball away a little quicker, maybe take those hits off of him, things like that.”

Lawrence’s inability to consistently get the ball out of his hands quickly has led to questions of his comfort level during games and whether or not he trusts things around him. Coach Pederson made it clear that these are not issues with the young quarterback.

“No, I think he trusts the things around him,” Pederson said. “We’ve talked about this before, it’s semi-new, and he’s still learning, and this is the first time in a while, and each week it kind of becomes a new week in the sense of he’s working with these guys day in and day out. 

"Now we’re down to 53, down to the 48, down to the 11 on offense or so, or 21, 22 on offense. These are now the guys that we’re working with. We’ve just got to make sure that we’re all on the same page. Keep working with the skill guys, the backs, tight ends, and continue to push through, but he trusts us as coaches, and we’re going to put them in great positions, then he ultimately, bottom line has to go perform.”

For Lawrence, preparation is always a component of the job that he takes very seriously. With the addition of Pederson and the coaching staff, the preparation process has begun to incorporate certain factors that will be beneficial on game day.

“He’s always studied the tape and just kind of listening to him verbalize way back in the spring his process and stuff, and it’s our job to help him take it to another level, what to study, how to study it, build cut-ups for him that he can just look at at home, get with his receivers, get with the offensive line during the week, just show him those types of things he can help himself and help the team win. Those are all ways that we’ve done. It’s great having a guy like C.J. (QB C.J. Beathard) too, a veteran quarterback who’s been around it and kind of knows how to do it and can help show him the way.

With a week two matchup against the Indianapolis Colts looming on the horizon, it is time to forget about last week’s loss and focus all of the effort and attention on a divisional matchup. The Colts' gametape from last week will surely be a focal point in film study. For Pederson and Lawrence this presents an opportunity to quickly move forward from a tough loss and take care of business against a familiar foe.

“That’s their kind of game,” Pederson said. “Everything is going to run through Jonathan (RB Jonathan Taylor) and through that offensive line, and everything else comes off of that. Just watching the game and how they kind of got on track in the second half, that’s who they are. It’s just like on defense with Gus Bradley (Defensive Coordinator), it’s who they are. 

"You know exactly where they’re going to be, and they do it extremely well. They run the ball extremely well, and they play defense well, so it’s a good test for our guys. You’ve got to stay disciplined with a group like this. We’ve got to be better up front, D-line, in our gaps against the run, and linebackers have to have vision, and you have to get your safeties and corners involved in tackling, and we’ve got to be better there because obviously we weren’t on Sunday.”