Hays Carlyon's Jaguars Blog

Jags lose to Browns but maybe Trevor Lawrence has found his fire

todaySeptember 15, 2024

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By Hays Carlyon

Finally, franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence is showing some fire.

Maybe it will lead to some changes.

That’s about the best Jaguars fans can hope for after another lousy offensive performance. The Jaguars failed to mount a comeback in an 18-13 loss to Cleveland on Sunday at “TrEverBank” Stadium. Who could have seen this marketing ploy backfiring?

The defense once again did enough to win. The Browns were 2-of-14 on third down.

The offense was dreadful. They needed nearly 45 minutes before finding any kind of rhythm.

“We suck right now, so I’m pretty shocked,” Lawrence said. “We had a great offseason, great training camp and we’ve got to figure it out. We know we’ve got a good group, we’ve got good players and we can be a really good offense, but clearly we’re not. Everybody has got to take accountability, look in the mirror and fix it.”

The 24-year-old Lawrence has always had a cool demeanor, almost a laissez-faire attitude.

As disappointing as Sunday’s result was, and the 0-2 start, I’m encouraged by the passion the fourth-year veteran showed after the game. Lawrence wasn’t without fault either, which he owned. But it’s time for this organization to have a quarterback that demands change and isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers to achieve it.

“We’ve got to be honest with ourselves,” Lawrence said. “If you don’t like it and if you made a mistake and you don’t like people calling it out and talking about it, you need to find a different job because this isn’t the one. Things matter. Little details matter. I’m talking to myself as much as anyone, so I don’t want it to be misconstrued but that stuff matters. Everyone had a play today, at least one, that they can do their job a lot better.”

It’s a stark contrast to Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, 1-7 in his last eight games, who seems out of answers. He keeps saying “That’s not who we are.”

Yes, Doug, it is. You’re a 1-7 outfit right now that hasn’t won a game since New Year’s Eve. Owner Shad Khan has invested hundreds of millions in what should be a winning team.

At least Lawrence concedes it is who they are. That’s the first step in fixing it.

“I’ve got to play better,” Lawrence said. “I’m the leader of this offense. It’s on me. The wideouts have got to play better, the line has got to play better, running backs got to play better, we’ve got to coach better. It’s everybody, honestly. But we’re standing around, we’ve got to take charge. We’re standing around waiting on somebody to make a play. Defense is playing their ass off the last two weeks. If a team doesn’t score more than 20 points, we should win every week.”

The failings around Lawrence, coaching and personnel, were apparent late in the fourth quarter. Cleveland pinned the Jaguars at their 2-yard line with a magnificent 39-yard punt that bounced and rolled out of bounds.

A tough situation for certain. Still, the Jaguars had seized some momentum back, trailing 16-13 with 1:48 to play with two timeouts.

Lawrence never had a chance.

On the first play, he dropped back, set his feet and was quickly forced to try to escape pressure. Browns defensive end Alex Wright sacked him in the end zone for a safety.

There was no receiver open and, more alarming, they all were deep downfield.

Don’t you need some kind of quick throw available for your quarterback?

The front office is failing Lawrence. The offensive line is struggling again to hold up in pass protection after a dismal season last year.

The coaching staff is failing Lawrence. The combination of Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor isn’t able to scheme something that can get the offense out of a funk. Offensive line coach Phil Rauscher can’t seem to properly develop his position.

The Jaguars are a pathetic 5 of 19 on third down so far this season.

“We had what I thought was a good plan, and obviously maybe wasn’t a good plan,” Lawrence said. “Who knows? Didn’t work. We didn’t execute it great either. There’s a lot of stuff we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and look at. Like I said, everybody has to look in the mirror. This isn’t the time to start getting defensive.”

Lawrence is not a great player in the NFL now.

Almost every great player has a competitive fire.

Does a charged-up press conference after a loss change anything? No, but I’m excited that it could be the start.

“We can’t finish in the red zone today, too many mistakes, getting in and out of the huddle, communication wasn’t good,” Lawrence said. “It’s a lot of things. It’s what pisses you off after the game, a lot of it we control. We control it but we’re not doing it right. Until we do it right, it’s a different story. We know the things we’ve got to work on and we’ve got to find a rhythm as an offense. Too many good players to perform like that, really the last two weeks.”

I like pissed off Trevor. We will see if that fire leads to anything over the next two weeks. The Jaguars travel to play Buffalo on Monday Night and then go to AFC South rival Houston.

A sense of urgency is needed or this once-promising season will be derailed by an 0-4 start.

Sunday was a step back, but if Lawrence is finally ready to passionately lead this team this loss might in the long term be a giant step forward.

(You can email Hays at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter/X @HaysCarlyon)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written by: Hays Carlyon


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todaySeptember 15, 2024