If there’s one thing we knew about the Jacksonville Jaguars this season, it’s that things wouldn’t possibly be as bad as they were last season under the “leadership” of one Urban Meyer. New head coach Doug Pederson had nowhere to go but up in everything from accountability to game-planning to roster management to game design, and so far, things are looking pretty good out there.
Things are looking especially good for quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the 2021 first-overall pick, who was thrown into a woodchipper by Meyer’s abhorrent coaching, and by the equally putrid efforts of former offensive designers Brian Schottenheimer and Darrell Bevell. Lawrence had so little to work with under that trio, it’s a miracle he made it out alive in a professional sense, and if he was shocked right out of the NFL, it wouldn’t have been a complete surprise.
Lawrence has more to him than that, though. Last week against the Browns, Lawrence completed six of 12 passes for 95 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions. Baby steps to be sure, but there was enough to make you think that Pederson and his staff had things in store for Lawrence that would frustrate opposing defenses. That’s certainly what our own Laurie Fitzpatrick saw.
Against the Steelers on Saturday, it didn’t take long for Lawrence to turn that speculation into reality. This throw to receiver Marvin Jones Jr. wasn’t just a dart across his body; it was also perfectly placed to sail over cornerback Cameron Sutton.
Trevor Lawrence threading the needle!
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) August 21, 2022
Not bad, if you can get away with it. And then, just to show that his confidence is just fine after what Meyer tried to do to it, Lawrence gave the Steelers the Dikembe Mutombo finger-wag, telling them to avoid that smoke.
As Mr. Mutombo would certainly say in this case, it ain’t boldness if you can back it up.
