JACKSONVILLE – Urban Meyer liked what he saw from Trevor Lawrence Friday.
Moreover, the Jaguars' head coach liked what Friday said about the Clemson University quarterback who many consider the top prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Lawrence, considered perhaps the best quarterback prospect to enter the NFL Draft in a decade, threw Friday at his personal Pro Day at Clemson. He did so despite a left shoulder labrum injury – and significantly, he did so following a conversation with Meyer.
Meyer told the story to Jane Slater of the NFL Network:
"Found out about a week ago he had a shoulder, a left labrum tear. We've had a bunch of phone calls with him. We did a Zoom call with him and I asked him. There are three choices you have. No. 1, you can wait until March 11 Pro Day – but now you are getting near August [for a recovery time]. That's getting late because it's a five-month recovery. It's a six-month injury. The second thing, you can not throw. He's probably a good enough player, but he said, 'I'm not doing that.' Third thing, I said why don't you just grab the ball and go throw for a little bit? I'd like to send our coordinator and passing-game coordinator to watch. They've never seen him. I've seen him, so he said, 'Let's go.'"
"That was it. Next thing I know, we're here at a Pro Day that they put together (quickly). That's a guy that loves football and is confident in his ability."
Meyer, hired as the Jaguars' head coach January 14, attended the workout along with Jaguars offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and passing-game coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.
Lawrence threw 52 passes during the session, which Meyer watched from a few feet away while standing with and talking to Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney. According to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, Atlanta Falcons General Manager Terry Fontenot and Head Coach Arthur Smith also attended, as did New York Jets General Manager Joe Douglas and Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
Seventeen teams reportedly attended the workout.
Lawrence said afterward he opted to work out "just to show that I'm no different from anybody else and still want to do the process the right way. Obviously, the original plan was to have two months training out in California then come back March 11 and put on a show and do all that, but life happens sometimes. So just having to adjust and showing them I'm able to adjust and adapt, and still willing to come out here and throw and give teams a chance to see me. That was important to me."
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Slater also asked Meyer about the Jaguars' offense in general: "It's all I think about 24/7. This is a transformative decision for the Jaguars. We all know it's a quarterback sport, obviously in the NFL. Our offensive line is pretty good. It's not a blow-up offensive line. We've got some other areas we've got to fix. I have a vision of what it looks like. Coach Schottenheimer and Coach Bevell have had those conversations, but it's going to be built around what we have. We have some good pieces, but we have to make it even better."
