Doug Pederson reveals lofty goal for Trevor Lawrence in Year 2; Jaguars QB unveils where he must improve

Trevor Lawrence gets a restart on his NFL career in year two, a much-needed refresh after a disastrous rookie season that wasn’t ideal for any young quarterback. Lawrence has all the talent to succeed in the NFL, and finally has a coaching staff in place that can develop him and cater to his strengths. 

Doug Pederson has high expectations for the former No. 1 overall pick. While he won’t reveal them, he expects Lawrence to take a drastic leap. 

“That’s the goal: to make a significant jump in year two. I think building off of last year, the fact that he played the entire season, we can build off that and really expect a sky’s the limit the mentality with him,” Pederson said Monday. “He’s in the same frame of mind as well. He wants to take that next step, not only in his growth but leading this football team. Today’s day one of that, and we’re just excited to be on the grass with him and the rest of the team.”

“It’s an exciting time for him, us as a staff, to really embrace him and the team and all the pieces we have around him.”

Lawrence finished his rookie season completing 59.6% of his passes for 3,641 yards with 12 touchdowns to 17 interceptions (71.9 rating). Of the 31 qualified quarterbacks, Lawrence was 29th in completion percentage, 31st in touchdown percentage (2.0%), 24th in interception percentage (2.8%), 31st in yards per attempt (6.0), and 30th in quarterback rating.

This is the perfect time for Lawrence to start over, running an offense that will benefit him and is taylor made for him to succeed. Lawrence has another opportunity to prove he was worth being the No. 1 overall pick, living up to the immense talent as a franchise quarterback. 

“I want to prove that I belong here and that I’m the player I believe that I am, that the organization believes I am,” Lawrence said. “As a team, I think we have a lot to prove. We didn’t have a great season last year, and I know the guys in this locker room are ready to prove some stuff this year. 

“That motivation and just having this new opportunity, having a clean slate, everybody starts at the bottom, and having your chance to work your way up — that’s the special opportunity we got this year. We’ve got a good enough team to win as many games as we want to, we’ve just got to make that decision and be prepared, and we’ll have a good year.”

Lawrence’s biggest issue in his first season was turnovers, as he tied for the league lead in interceptions (17) and was tied for ninth in the NFL in fumbles (nine). The 26 errors are what Lawrence wants to clean up. 

“I think for me, a broad focus, not getting into too much detail; turnovers, obviously I had a lot of turnovers last year,” Lawrence said.” Finding that balance of being myself and making plays, but also being smart and putting our team in the best situation to win. I think that’s important. Limiting those but not letting it change my game. I think that’s something I’ve worked this offseason, and I’ve seen improvements, so just continuing to do that.”

Lawrence is set to meet Pederson’s lofty expectations in year two, embracing the challenge of turning the Jaguars into a winner. He believes Pederson can maximize his potential. 

“There’s a standard you have to uphold, but he also knows how to take care of players, what players are feeling,” Lawrence said. “Just having a coach that’s been there, done that, coached a lot of teams, had a lot of success, he kind of just knows how to read the team, and I think that’s really important.

“It’s nice having a head coach who sees the play and can jump in, give me a tip, correct something I did, tell me something I could do a little better, or whatever it is, because he totally understands his offense. It’s all the coaches’ offense, but he knows it like the back of his hand, so it’s nice having that, and knowing he played the position, so he’s been in my shoes, so when he says something, you’re definitely listening.”