Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence hasn’t lived up to No. 1 status

When the Jaguars hired Doug Pederson as their coach in the offseason, part of the thought process was getting young quarterback Trevor Lawrence on track.

Lawrence, the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL draft who had a higher profile than 2020 phenoms Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert, struggled in his rookie season under then-Jaguars coach Urban Meyer. The switch to Pederson, a noted quarterback guru and Super Bowl championship coach with the Eagles, was expected to point Lawrence in the right direction.

But that hasn’t been the case after seven games. On Sunday at Jacksonville, the Raiders (2-5) will face a quarterback who ranks 21st in the NFL with a 46.0 QB rating, 22nd in passing yards at 230 per game and 27th in completion percentage at 62.5.

As a result, the Jaguars are averaging 21.5 points per game, 21st in the NFL. That’s bad news for a team that has a defense ranked 10th overall while surrendering just 19.8 points per game.

“They’re a really good defense as a whole,” Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said.

It doesn’t mean much if Lawrence doesn’t play better.

After a relatively good start to his second season, Lawrence has played poorly in five straight losses, during which he has completed just 57.8 percent of his passes, thrown five interceptions to four touchdowns and lost four of five fumbles.

Of those turnovers, none was more costly than the interception he threw against the Broncos on Sunday on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line. The Jaguars led 7-0, and by simply taking care of the ball, could have scored a touchdown or kicked a field goal.

Instead, Lawrence threw a ball into tight coverage for an interception. The Jaguars ended up losing 21-17 to fall to 2-6.

“Obviously you make a critical error like that and at that point in the game we’re up 7-0, and you think about how that would change the game if we end up scoring on that drive and make it 14-0, take the life out of their sideline and kind of keep all the momentum,” Lawrence said. “That’s the most frustrating thing when you look back on it and just how the game changes.”

Lawrence understands the fingers being pointed in his direction as a result.

“No matter who you are, you’re going to face criticism, especially when you don’t feel like you’re not playing your best,” Lawrence said. “I don’t feel like I’ve played my best the past couple weeks.

“When we’re playing well, I’m going to get too much credit, and when we’re not playing well, we’re losing some games, sometimes I get too much blame. Sometimes, though, it’s warranted. I know I haven’t played my best.”

Pederson knows it, too, and has frank conversations with the player expected to lead the Jaguars to relevance.

“No. 1, you’ve got to be honest with the player,” Pederson said. “That’s good and bad. You’re up front with him, and you’ve got to have constructive dialogue. I never want to be someone who wants to try to kind of sugarcoat anything.

“Sometimes you’ve got to have tough conversations with players, whether it’s the quarterback or not. We’re going to work through everything together.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.