JACKSONVILLE – Trevor Lawrence has been here before.

The same is true for many of Lawrence's teammates and coaches as they face a difficult early-season circumstance in the form of three losses in their first three games.

A rough start is one thing. What matters is how the Jaguars respond.

"We have to use it and we have to move forward," Lawrence said.

Lawrence, the Jaguars’ starting quarterback, spoke to the media Wednesday afternoon as the Jaguars (0-3) prepared to play the AFC South-leading Houston Texans (2-1) at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, Sunday at 1 p.m. Head Coach Doug Pederson spoke earlier in the day, and he – like Lawrence and many Jaguars players this week – spoke of perhaps the week's top storyline:

How the team will respond to what by any definition are adverse circumstances.

"We've got to find out," Pederson said Tuesday, a day after a 47-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. "It goes back to talking about the leaders of the football team. If you want to be an elite team, it's led by the players."

Pederson added, "There's going to be adversity in this league. You're going to be faced with it year-in and year-out, but it's how you bounce back from it, fight through it."

The Jaguars have lost eight of nine games dating to last season, with tight end Evan Engram saying, "We just have to have some success."

"We have to earn some success," Engram said. "We have to earn that feeling of success sometimes to remind us of who we are. We haven't had a lot of it in the past two weeks.

"That's something that can lead to things going better. We do need to go earn some success and earn some confidence."

Lawrence, in his fourth season with the Jaguars, said the team's experience in recent seasons will be critical this week. The Jaguars in 2022 started before winning their final five regular-season games to win their first AFC South title in five seasons.

The Jaguars that season overcame five double-digit deficits to win. Core players such as Lawrence, wide receiver Christian Kirk, running back Travis Etienne Jr. defensive ends Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker and linebacker Foye Oluokun and others remain from that team and form the leadership group of the current Jaguars team.

"We definitely use all the past experience," Lawrence said. "That's one thing that's good from having the experience in this league. You've seen a lot. Seasons are always different, how these games go early and down the stretch.

"Not just myself. The majority of us have played together for a few years now. We've been through a lot."

While 14 games remain in the regular season, Lawrence said the reality is that urgency is needed sooner not later.

"It's a long season," Lawrence said. "I don't say that to say that we have time to waste because we surely don't anymore. But it is a long season. We've been in a worse spot than this before. We've found a way out of it. I have full faith we're going to do the same, but we have to go prove it. I'm excited for that opportunity."

Lawrence this week emphasized the need for the proper approach in difficult times, and the need to "stay loose, have fun, keep flying around."

"Don't tighten up, don't try to force the issue on making that one play that turns it, just let it come to you," he said. "It's kind of a mixture of the sense of urgency has to be there, this position we're in. But you also have to do your job, and you can't get outside of what your job is and your responsibilities and try to do too much.

"We have to stay level-headed through all this and keep trusting the work that we're putting in. It's going to pay off for us. It hasn't yet, and we haven't had much success the first three weeks, but I really, really do believe that it will. This is a great opportunity this week to get on track."

Pederson, too, said weeks such as the one facing the Jaguars in Week 4 are more about preparation than massive changes or even speeches.

"We're facing a really good Houston football team on the road, and it doesn't get easier," Pederson said. 'I don't think I have to say much, obviously, about these types of weeks. It's just a matter of continuing to trust our process and the standard we've set here and continuing to work through it."