One of the perks of the Jacksonville Jaguars having Doug Pederson as their coach is that he’s not only played the game but has done so at the most important position on the field. That’s a big plus for former No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence, who is heading into his second season after dealing with a dysfunctional situation last season under Urban Meyer.
When meeting with the media Monday, Lawrence said Pederson’s experience as a coach and player has been huge and has been able to provide several tips to help him take the next step.
“Oh yeah. I think you can always tell the way a coach communicates with a quarterback because he’s been in my shoes,” Lawrence said. “Quarterback’s an interesting position. It’s not a big rah-rah, chew somebody out. I mean you have some coaches that are like that but for me, that’s just not what I need. I can have a conversation and [Head Coach] Coach [Doug] Pederson’s great about that.
“At every play, he gives you a piece of feedback that another coach might not give you just because he knows what it’s like and it’s something little that he might see that someone else doesn’t see. Having the head coach be able to step in, even today a couple times, three or four times, after a play, he’ll come over and give me a little tip or whatever. Just having a head coach that can do that and really, really knows what he’s talking about is cool.”
Pederson was an underrated addition for the Jags this year who is getting overlooked because he wasn’t necessarily a player acquisition. However, he’s flourished with coaching the quarterback position and has been able to help players like Carson Wentz, Nick Foles, and Alex Smith to play at a high level. He also was able to earn a Super Bowl LII victory with Foles behind center, who filled in during the back half of the 2017 season for Wentz.
Now, fans are hoping Pederson can help Lawrence reach the heights that Wentz did in his second year as he was getting consideration for the Most Valuable Player award. And while it’s hard to see Lawrence make a similar jump in 2022, his pairing with Pederson certainly could be felt within the AFC South at the least.
A key to Lawrence taking another step will be his connection with notable free-agent acquisition Christian Kirk. Kirk was signed to a four-year deal worth $72 million. With that deal now signed, many are expecting him to be the Jags’ top receiver.
So far, it appears the connection between Kirk and Lawrence is one that could be strong as the second-year quarterback offered praise towards Kirk.
“He’s great. Just from a football IQ sense, I think he’s really quarterback friendly,” Lawrence said of Kirk. “The way he sees the field, different coverages unfold, the way he runs his routes, I just think he’s quarterback friendly. And then obviously his speed is something that we really needed and it’s going to help us a lot. You guys saw today, he can fly and locate a ball, all those things.
“[He’s] really talented and we get along really well. Like I said, [we have] similar personalities and demeanors. Really that’s the cool thing is seeing how this staff has built the locker room with the guys that were already here and the new guys we signed. It just seems like we’re all on the same page and everybody’s a team first guy. You don’t have any selfish guys in that locker room which is obviously really important.”
Last year Lawrence established a good connection with another free agent receiver in Marvin Jones Jr., who ended up leading the team in receiving with 73 catches for 832 yards. Hopefully, that’s the case for Kirk this year, just with about 200 yards more.
