After getting off to an 8-3 start in 2023, the Jaguars lost five of their last six games to finish 9-8 and miss the playoffs.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence lost each of his last five starts, missing the Week 16 victory over the Panthers. In that five-game stretch, he completed 62 percent of his throws for 1,270 yards with nine touchdowns, seven interceptions, and three lost fumbles. He also took 10 sacks.
Beginning the offseason program this week, Lawrence said in his press conference that he found plenty to take away from last year — both good and bad.
“It was obviously a disappointing season, some of the stuff I said after the year, but I think just being removed from it, it’s a lot easier to see the good after the fact,” Lawrence said. “Not necessarily the good things that happened but use the bad things as good to make yourself better moving forward.
“There’s just so many things that I learned last season, whether it’s trying to stay healthy and dealing with some things that I haven’t had to deal with in my career or not playing as consistent as I wanted to have played to finish the year, to whatever it may be. Maybe that means some expectations that we had for ourselves as a team, not playing well in big games, all these things that have gone through my head.”
Lawrence added that while it’s difficult to see the big picture in the moment, being removed from the day-to-day action of the season has given him some clarity.
“I’m thankful for that, all the difficult times in my career — I think back to my rookie season — [have] made me a lot better for it,” Lawrence said. “You just have to use it, so that’s what I plan to do from last season. I think our approach as a team, too — it’s a waste if you don’t use it. You went through that experience and then you don’t use it, it’s double bad because it sucked going through it and you didn’t get better from it.
“I think that’s our mindset, that’s my mindset moving forward and so many things to learn from.”
Lawrence, who is eligible for a contract extension, finished 2023 with a 66 percent completion rate, passing for 4,016 yards with 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
