Jaguars still have full confidence in Trevor Lawrence, vow to use collapse as fuel for next season

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In the wake of the most disappointing finish in franchise history, Doug Pederson said that he was still processing things and didn’t plan on any significant changes to his coaching staff just yet. Hours later, he made the first of those changes, firing defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell, the first in what should be a transitional season in Jacksonville.

Pederson watched as the Jaguars stormed out to an 8-3 start, only to lose five of their final six games to miss the playoffs.

“At this time, I’m still processing everything. Obviously, we just finished the season, so I’m going to take the next little bit here and think about everything with the way we finished,” Pederson said. “It’s not where we want to be and I got to take all of this into consideration.”

That “little bit” of time was roughly three hours.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence headlines the returnees in 2024, and there’s no doubt that Jacksonville has to get better and more consistent production from its franchise player. Lawrence said that he thinks Jacksonville has the pieces in place to be a playoff team again.

“I do. I believe that. I think that you saw that at times this year and that’s part of the disappointing thing. We do believe we have a good team, possibly great team,” Lawrence said. “We have the players to be great and that’s what is disappointing; we weren’t this year. It’s just the reality of it, we weren’t and put that on the field and that was clear in a lot of games. That’s something where we have to improve.”

What will changes look like? On the defensive side of the ball, will Pederson hire a defensive coordinator who leans on a base 3-4 defense (three down linemen, four linebackers) or employ the more traditional 4-3? Jacksonville has used variations of both, but the expected growth of Travon Walker and the potential return of Josh Allen on the franchise tag or a new deal gives the Jaguars two explosive pass rushers. That duo combined for 27.5 sacks this year.

The Jaguars have to put a more consistent product out on the field than they did in 2023. Turnovers were a killer. So, too, was the red zone offense and ability to protect Lawrence. Injuries were a killer across the board, an issue players and Pederson acknowledged but won’t put blame on.

One change that fans loudly said that they wanted in a News4JAX poll Monday was for the Jaguars to part ways with offensive coordinator Press Taylor. Pederson was positive about Taylor’s first full year of calling pays, so that doesn’t appear as an area that would yield a change. Caldwell’s ouster was much lower on the list.

“I thought overall, Press did a nice job of organizing the offense, the game planning that we did, and even calling. I would have to go back and look at all the numbers, but I think points and different things like that, we were better (than last year). We can still get better on third down and in the red zone, all of that. He did a nice job,” Pederson said of Taylor.

“You go up and down the field, you turn the ball over in the red zone. You just can’t do this, it’s not play calling, it’s not the scheme or the design of plays, it’s just having the urgency of ‘we have to protect the football better,’ things of that nature.”

Some of the team’s biggest issues — a below-average offensive line, a regressing defense, and a spotty offense — have drawn the ire of fans. But many questions and blame have been directed at Lawrence, who didn’t have the same type of success this year as he did last and continues to struggle with turnovers. He has thrown 39 interceptions and lost 21 fumbles in three seasons (against 60 total touchdowns).

Some tie Lawrence’s struggles to Taylor calling plays full-time. Others suggest that Lawrence isn’t a franchise-type quarterback. Those are two separate extremes, with the truth somewhere in between. Lawrence thrived with Taylor calling plays during last year’s playoff run. This season, Lawrence was sacked a career-high 35 times playing behind an offensive line that was league-average at best. The receiving corps should have been a strength, but it struggled, too.

“Trevor is young, he has so much growth. He’s growing, he’s still learning. Me and Trevor, obviously we only had one year together. Sometimes we weren’t there because we didn’t have the chemistry,” said receiver Calvin Ridley. “Opposed to Kirk [WR Christian Kirk] and Zay [WR Zay Jones] and Engram [TE Evan Engram], they all have pretty good chemistry. It looks a little different when they target him. With us, we needed a little bit more time honestly.”

What will the dynamic between Lawrence and the team look like next season? For those who question Lawrence’s ability as “the guy,” players quickly dismissed that notion as outside noise. Tight end Evan Engram said that there’s no doubt Lawrence is the right player to lead Jacksonville.

“100%, I think everybody is going to have an opinion, that’s the world now. Everybody has access to getting their opinions out there and there’s buttons that can be pressed where more people can see opinions. From what I see, as a player in this locker room, a player in the trenches, on the field he’s our guy.”

Lawrence struggled to recapture his form from the second half of the 2022 season and continued to have issues with turnovers. Lawrence said he understands what the national headlines will be about his struggles and Jacksonville’s failure to make the playoffs. But Lawrence said a season like this doesn’t affect his confidence.

“No, not in my eyes. Who knows what the narrative is going to be, I’m sure not good, but I don’t really care, so it’s not really about that for me. It doesn’t stunt my growth,” Lawrence said.

“I think that’s up to me of how much better I get every year, not what the narrative is. I know that it’s going to be a long offseason for us and for people want to say about us, but it doesn’t really matter. I think it’s going to put a chip back on our shoulder, and we know we have to get better and we have a lot of things to work on. Individually, that starts with me”.