Trevor Lawrence shreds Titans through air and on ground in Jaguars romp

By Hays Carlyon

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was dominant by air and on the ground on Sunday.

That led to an awfully long day for the Tennessee Titans.

Lawrence threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more, becoming the first player in franchise history to accomplish the feat, as the Jaguars routed bitter AFC South rival Tennessee 34-14 at EverBank Stadium.

“The name of the game is being explosive and efficient,” Lawrence said. “You’ve got to have both. You can’t just be explosive and you can’t only be efficient to where you don’t have any explosive plays. That is something that we try to create every week because we know how important it is. You’ve got to have to have big plays. You’ve got to be able to get chunks on teams and to get that momentum and to get rolling. You’ve got to be able to throw the ball down field, but you’ve also got to be efficient and put yourself in good situations. You can’t get behind the sticks.”

Lawrence is over a month removed from a minor left knee injury suffered in a 37-20 win over Indianapolis on Oct. 15. He finally looked fully healthy against the Titans, though he continued to wear a brace.

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor emphasized moving Lawrence around to help stifle a quality Titans pass rush. The results were outstanding.

The Jaguars were able to quickly shake off a humbling 34-3 home loss to San Francisco last week.

“It was part of our game plan,” Pederson said. “I thought Trevor played extremely well. Obviously bounced back from last week and put together a good performance, ran the ball. I think two rushing touchdowns today. Did a great job. Saw the field extremely well.”

Lawrence completed 24 of 32 passes for 262 yards without a turnover for a passer rating of 119.5. He also gained 17 yards on the ground.

“I felt good,” Lawrence said. “I think that definitely helped us out, me being able to move. In general, that just helps you as an offense when I can escape when needed and extend plays. … When you can move and feel good and can do all that stuff, it definitely gives you more options, and I think it was good for us today.”

Lawrence was in command early. He threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to receiver Calvin Ridley in the back corner of the end zone to give the Jaguars a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

That started a string of five consecutive drives in which the Jaguars scored.

He connected with Ridley on a 34-yard pass down the left sideline in the second quarter that led to a field goal which extended the lead to 13-0.

Lawrence stayed hot to start the second half. Facing a fourth-and-4 situation at Tennessee’s 40-yard line, Lawrence stepped up to escape pressure and found running back D’Ernest Johnson for a short pass that turned into a 34-yard gain. The Jaguars were back in the end zone when Lawrence ran for a 9-yard score.

“There was one on fourth down where we decided to go for it and because I was able to move and get out of the pocket, D’Ernest did a good job working the sideline,” Lawrence said. “We got the conversion. Big play there. Little things like that happened throughout the game.”

Lawrence showed good mobility again on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ridley when he stepped up in the pocket to make the score 27-0 with 3:22 left in the third quarter.

Lawrence ended his day with a 5-yard touchdown run.

The victory was crucial. The Jaguars (7-3) remain atop the AFC South standings, one game up on Houston. Now comes a rematch with the Texans where the Jaguars will try to avoid the season sweep after losing at home in Week 3.

A Jaguars win would go a long way to locking up a second consecutive division title.

A healthy Lawrence is key.

It’s good to know he will be close to his peak when the Jaguars get to Houston.

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