Lawrence recovers from catch on first play

Trevor Lawrence’s first NFL start ended in a catch that was almost a fumble, but the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback didn’t let that action get to him.

The first overall pick in the 2021 draft bounced back from that bad start to have a solid, but not spectacular, debut in the Jaguars’ 23-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns at TIAA Bank Field on Saturday night.

Lawrence threw for 71 yards, including a 35-yard pass to Marvin Jones Jr. on a third-down conversion, but failed to lead the starting unit in scoring points on the two offensive series he was involved in and the rookie passer acknowledged that he kept the ball in his hands too long at times.

However, Lawrence made some good passes and left his coach feeling good, albeit with plenty of room for improvement.

“I asked (aerial coordinator Brian Schottenheimer) how Trevor played and he said he played very well,” Jaguars coach Urban Meyer said. “On that ball he threw to his left, I think it was on third down, he really anticipated a good cut (from the receiver), escaped pressure and got a nice pass to Marvin Jones.

“(Trevor) certainly wasn’t spectacular. We’ve got to execute better, we’ve got to protect him better and we’ve got to get all the receivers healthy and playing better,” he added.

Lawrence completed six of nine passes and according to NFL Next Gen Stats, completed three of four completions in tight windows, which equates to the best percentage of passes completed in tight windows for a Jaguars quarterback in 2020. The offense was also much more efficient with Lawrence (74 yards) than with Gardner Minshew II, who threw for 47 yards and suffered an interception and advanced his offense 46 yards in three series.

“I felt comfortable, accurate,” Lawrence said of his first NFL action. “Obviously, the first play wasn’t what I would have wanted on my first play (in the NFL), but after that, I thought I did a good job. We communicated well at the line, (the linemen) did a good job of protecting. At least one of those catches was my fault, staying with the ball too long. That’s something I’ll work on. Maneuvering in the pocket is something I’ve always worked on.

“Other than that, I missed a pass to Marvin, a quick route to the outside, but other than that, I felt good, we were all on the same page. Obviously there are things to polish up, but I think it was a very good day,” the passer added.

The most important aspect to polish for Lawrence is getting rid of the ball quicker, which he did at times on quick passes to LaViska Shenault. Meyer said he would need to see video to know why Lawrence was hesitant to get rid of the ball, which sometimes happened because he waited for receivers to get unmarked.

That was the case on a long pass to Jones. No one was open at first and it wasn’t until Jones was unmarked deep that Lawrence was able to throw the ball. Fortunately for him, Lawrence had good protection on that action. That wasn’t always the case as tackles Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor struggled against Cleveland’s second and third picks.

Lawrence was caught twice in the game.

“I was in the pocket the whole time. In the end, I ended up escaping pressure,” Lawrence said of his long pass to Jones. “Marvin did a good job of getting unmarked and reacting. Something we’ve worked on in camp is escaping pressure. I didn’t really run out of the pocket, but everybody has that mental count of, ‘OK, the play isn’t working the way it was designed.’ At this point, we have to make something happen.'”

Lawrence admitted to having a bit of nerves, but said they quickly disappeared as he felt more comfortable in his second series than his first.

“You’re a little nervous on the first play, especially your first NFL game, you’re a little nervous, but after that, to play. I definitely felt more (comfortable) playing more.

“I usually get nervous before the first game of the season anyway, so it’s pretty normal. I was excited, ready to get out on the field. It’s been something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. It’s been my dream,” Lawrence finished.