JACKSONVILLE – Trevor Lawrence seems pretty "chill," as the kids like to say.
His warm smile and engaging personality off the field is different from the quarterback working from the pocket. On Wednesday he reflected on his first NFL start – a three-interception performance in a season-opening loss to the Houston Texans.
Lawrence said his performance boiled down to a specific thing he needed to do much better.
"I was just not patient with the coverage," he said as the Jaguars (0-1) prepared to play the Denver Broncos (1-0) at TIAA Bank Field Sunday at 1 p.m. "That (the Texans' coverage scheme) is designed to prevent big plays. I got a little bit greedy on a couple and tried to take too much and just wasn't patient and that's a direct reflection of the turnovers.
"You've got to take care of it if you're going to play well."
Lawrence, the off-field version, on Wednesday didn't appear overly concerned by the loss or the poor performance. Part of that is the "chill" factor that's vital for a quarterback to be able to compartmentalize and not let one game become two losses by overcompensating.
While Sunday’s 37-21 loss was his first career regular-season loss, it seems as if he has a good approach and solid plan moving forward.
"That's the thing about football that kind of sucks," Lawrence said. "Obviously, you need the time between games because it's so physical and you've got to get healthy. But, when you have a rough game it's like 'Dang, I've got to wait a whole week to go play again.'
"Baseball, basketball, you get out there and play two days later and kind of flush it. But we've just got a lot to work on so I'm glad we've got a week of practice to get better. I thought we had a great day today, addressed some of the issues, guys have a great attitude and we're ready to go and get a win."
The issues for Lawrence could be magnified this week against a pass rush and a secondary that is significantly better than the one he saw in Houston. Edge rusher Von Miller is one of the best to ever chase quarterbacks. On the other side, edger rusher Bradley Chubb is no slouch.
The secondary is the most expensive in football and features Justin Simmons, who is one of the premier safeties in the NFL.
"It's a lot different; this is still a big zone team but more match principles," Lawrence said. "They're really good athletes who can carry and play man and their disguises are really good on the back end. … Von Miller, Bradley Chubb -those two guys on the edge, great pass rush, they make it tough to break contain they do such a good job at setting the edge.
"Plus, they have the coverage players too, so they do a good job mixing it up pre-snap with the coverages, so we have a challenge ahead for sure."
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Lawrence might not have been patient against Houston, but he didn't make the common rookie error of scrambling when the first defender flashed in front of his face. He was a running threat during his time at Clemson and no doubt the playbook has a few wrinkles to use his legs, but Jaguars Head Coach Urban Meyer suggested the quarterback will have to make that call himself. "Trevor's got to become Trevor a little bit," Meyer said. "That's just part of the game, it's not designed like they ran at Clemson or we ran at Ohio State or Florida. I'm not saying we won't (have designed runs) but here is also the element that he's a big, fast athlete that gets you some yards once in a while if he has to. I haven't had a chat with him about that yet, but he's a very studious player and he sees that, I'm sure." The coach was correct and the quarterback said he saw it. "I think in general, using my legs and extending plays, not just sitting in the pocket, you know I think that's part of the game that helps me, helps the team by keeping plays alive," Lawrence said. "I think that's something I do well. We talked about that in the preseason and this week I could have done it a little bit more. It's always going to be something I work on, but it's usually a natural part of my game. The more comfortable I get that will start to show."
