The Jacksonville Jaguars weren’t at full strength against the Texans. But they still built a big lead before blowing it. And the late collapse in the loss to the Texans shows why Trevor Lawrence is not the guy to be the long-term answer at quarterback.
Davis Mills scrambled 14 yards for the go-ahead score with 31 seconds left. lifting the Texans to an improbably 36-29 win over the Jaguars on Sunday.
As for Lawrence, he offered up a pitiful 13-of-23 performance for 158 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Those are poor numbers for a team that scored 29 points.
Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence is sinking further
The questions were already hanging around, but this game amplified them. Included in the mix, Nate Burleson of the NFL on CBS, said the Jaguars have to look long and hard at who they have behind center, according to a post on X.
“Trevor Lawrence, who is he?” Burleson said. “This was a big game. They needed this one. Thirteen for 23. Under 200 yards. One touchdown, one pick. It’s just tough to see this organization moving forward with a guy they may not be 100 percent confident in.”
Lawrence isn’t bottom of the heap, according to Pro Football Focus. He currently stands at No. 17 with a rating of 72.2.
But it should be noted that Lawrence’s rating was in the high 70s for 2022 (78.6), 2023 (79.7), and 2024 (76.8). He seems to have fallen off this year. And yet, he has been healthy this year after playing in only 10 games in 2024.
But he has a completion percentage of 59.5, which generally won’t get the job done. He also has only 10 touchdown passes with seven interceptions. Ironically, through 10 games in 2024, he had 11 touchdown passes and seven picks. So is this who he is?
Jaguars HC Liam Coen still trying to mold Trevor Lawrence
From his standpoint, head coach Liam Coen has stood behind Lawrence, according to Sports Illustrated earlier this season.
“So, you look at it statistically then, yeah, it should probably be higher than a 50 percent completion percentage, and then there's some throws that he needs to make and he knows that,” Coen said. “It's not a negative, it's just, hey man, we’ve got to make these throws, and how can we help you, from a footwork standpoint or an accuracy standpoint, some of those things.
“I've been very proud of Trevor, the preparation, the way that he has gone about it, and then the scramble that he made on a critical third down yesterday, there is a lot of resiliency out of him and that group in general.”
For Lawrence’s part, he said the Jaguars didn’t get it done on offense against the Texans, according to jaguars.com.
“We had our opportunities,” Lawrence said. “We just didn’t take advantage of them. There was a lot of stuff we left out there.”
And the injuries weren’t the main factor, Lawrence said.
“It was more self-inflicted things in the passing game,” Lawrence said. “We got to play better offensively. We gotta score more. [And] we gotta be able to put a team away when you got them down that much.”
The loss turned out to be a crushing one, Lawrence said.
“It’s tough losing in general,” Lawrence said. “To let it go and give it away, it’s tough. To not finish and play our best down the stretch is tough.”
How will this play out in the end for the Jaguars?
But how long will his supporters stand behind him? After the 35-7 loss to the Rams, John Oehser of jaguars.com. said he wouldn’t call Lawrence a bust in response to an email.
“I in no way, shape, form, nor fashion have to ‘admit' [Lawrence is a bust],” Oehser wrote. “Though Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence didn't play particularly well Sunday in a 35-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Wembley Stadium in London, I'm hard-pressed to name a player on the Jaguars' offense – outside of perhaps rookie wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter – who stood out as playing particularly well.
“Lawrence had played much better the three weeks leading into Sunday than he did in the first three weeks of this season. He didn't play as well Sunday as he did the previous three weeks. Regardless of his draft position, he must play better moving forward than he did Sunday.”
Lawrence had better numbers the following week in a one-point win over the Raiders, saved by a defended pass on a 2-point conversion for the win. But the loss to the Texans hurt the Jaguars’ playoff hopes.
Coen focused more on the team than on Lawrence after the game, according to Sports Illustrated.
“The reality is we gave up a 19-point lead to lose the game,” Coen said. “Part of winning in the National Football League is sustaining a lead. We just needed one stop; didn't get one. Against a tough defense, points were hard to come by. You score 29, however the points come, you feel like you're going to have a chance to go win; didn't get it done.”
