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Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was quick and to the point about his team’s offense the first two weeks of the season.
“We suck right now,” he said.
That came after the Jaguars scored just 13 points in a loss to the Cleveland Browns at EverBank Stadium — which was renamed TrEverBank Stadium for the day as part of Lawrence’s deal with the financial company — one week after managing just 17 points in a loss to the Miami Dolphins.
It appeared to be the most frustrated Lawrence has been after a game in the past two-plus seasons and what’s even more aggravating for him is that it’s essentially the same group of players that finished 10th in the NFL in scoring, total yards and passing yards in 2022 and ninth in the NFL in passing in 2023.
“We know we’ve got a good group,” Lawrence said. “We’ve got good players, and we can be a really good offense, but clearly we’re not. Everybody has got to take accountability, look in the mirror, and fix it. I’ve got to play better. I’m the leader of this offense. It’s on me. The wideouts [have] to play better, the line has got to play better, running backs got to play better, we’ve got to coach better. It’s everybody, honestly.
“We’re standing around, we’ve got to take charge. We’re standing around waiting on somebody to make a play. Defense is playing their ass off the last two weeks. If a team doesn’t score more than 20 points, we should win every week.”
The Jaguars put up 323 yards, including 127 yards rushing, against the Browns, but at one point during the third quarter Lawrence was 5-of-14 for 16 yards and the offense had just 79 net yards after their second possession in the third quarter.
He was sacked four times — including once for a safety with 1:44 remaining — and was pressured on 43% of his dropbacks (15 of 35), the second-highest pressure rate he’s faced in the past three seasons per ESPN Research. He was 4-of-9 for 44 yards with all four sacks when pressured.
After scoring 17 points in the first half of the season opener against Miami, the Jaguars have scored just 13 points, converted just 3 of 14 third downs, and scored one touchdown and lost a fumble in five red zone trips.
“We’ve been in this system for a long time now, three years now, and so especially for us that have been here, it’s frustrating,” said receiver Christian Kirk, who was targeted only three times against the Browns and three against the Dolphins.
“It just goes back to taking the practice to the game because we have been having great weeks of practice. We go out there and feel confident in the game plan, feel confident in what we’re doing, and then when we get out there on Sunday, it’s just not translating. So I think that’s just one of the things that we need to look at a little closer and really need to hold each other accountable for.”
Lawrence said that will require some pointed self-reflection this week.
“We’ve got to be honest with ourselves, and if you don’t like it and if you made a mistake and you don’t like people calling it out and talking about it, you need to find a different job because this isn’t the one,” he said. “Things matter. Little details matter. I’m talking to myself as much as anyone, so I don’t want it to be misconstrued, but that stuff matters. Everyone had a play today, at least one, that they can do their job a lot better.
“You look back at it, and all those plays add up and they affect the game and you end up losing.”
Lawrence said one of the biggest issues has been communication, which he said includes getting substitutions in on time, getting the playcall, and breaking the huddle and getting to the line of scrimmage with enough time remaining on the play clock to make and relay adjustments and change blocking plans if needed.
And there’s also this: During a halftime television interview, Pederson said the “nonsense” had to stop. When asked after the game what he mean, he said: “Just execution.”
The offense was supposed to be this team’s strength in 2024 while the defense adjusts to new coordinator Ryan Nielsen’s system. Instead it’s been the opposite, with the defense giving up 38 points in two games.
The Jaguars will face two of the league’s better quarterbacks the next two weeks in Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Houston’s C.J. Stroud, so the offense had better start carrying its weight, Lawrence said.
“We can’t hit the panic button, but we’ve got to have some real conversations,” he said. “We’ve got too good of a team to come out here and perform two weeks in a row like this. I mean, these games are precious and you don’t get them back, and we’re 0-2 to start the year and it’s not going to get any easier.
“We’ve got a lot of good teams in our schedule, one coming up this week. We’d better fix it quick.”
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