Despite what was, by all accounts, not a particularly exciting performance from Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the Jaguars started the 2025 season off with a decisive win over the Carolina Panthers. Granted, the Panthers are not one of the NFL's best teams - far from it, in fact - but no one is going to complain about a win.
There were definitely some standout performances during the game, too. Travis Etienne Jr. got his comeback campaign off to a running start, running for 143 yards on just 16 attempts... and one of those was an explosive 71-yard dash that the entire league will almost certainly be talking about. Jourdan Lewis, new to the Jaguars defense, also made a big impact right away, racking up five tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery, and three pass breakups.
And then there was Lawrence, who wasn't bad, exactly. He just wasn't great. On the plus side, he threw for 178 yards and a touchdown, but on the minus side, he also had one interception, overthrew multiple receivers, and then there was that intentional grounding call. It was definitely not his best game, but to be fair, it is the first week of a new offensive scheme under Liam Coen and Grant Udinski.
And while this may not have been the best Jaguars fans can hope for from Lawrence, head coach Liam Coen still had high praise.
Liam Coen still believes in Trevor Lawrence
Coen spoke well about Lawrence after the game, noting that while there were some mistakes, he overall still believes Lawrence can become the Jaguars' franchise QB.
"I thought he had great communication. We were in and out of the huddle. Had the one delay, but that was really a communication fault of us as coaches, "Coen said. "I thought he handled things well. I thought he had not a great third quarter, to be honest. You know, we need to be more accurate and complete some of those balls when we have people open, but I thought overall, for his first start in a new system, he handled it really well. He got us in and out of plays. He had to can a lot of plays, and he did it effectively and efficiently. I was proud of his leadership."
He also had a lot of good things to say about Lawrence's ability to scramble throughout the game, which is something that can't really be prepared for during training camp. But most importantly, it's worth noting that Lawrence is still young, and that he's working under his third offensive system in just five years. It can be a lot - to say nothing of the general stability and continuity that is lost from constant coaching turnover, there's also having to learn new plays, new terminology, new focuses, new schemes.
So while yes, it is true that this was not the best showing fans could have hoped for out of Lawrence, there's still a lot of reason to be optimistic as the season begins.
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