The Jaguars signed quarterback Trevor Lawrence to a five-year, $275 million extension last week. The new money brings even bigger expectations for Lawrence, who made one Pro Bowl and one playoff appearance in his first three seasons.
Lawrence insists he doesn’t feel any added pressure, and perhaps he doesn’t considering he entered the league as the No. 1 overall pick and was billed as a generational talent.
“I’m not going to add any pressure to myself just based on getting this contract,” Lawrence told reporters Thursday. “It doesn’t really change what I expect of myself and what the team expects of me. Whether this got done or not, [Jaguars owner] Mr. [Shad] Khan, [General Manager] Trent [Baalke], [coach] Doug [Pederson], everyone, all the coaches expect me to play well and, like I said, to bring a championship here eventually. . . . Now that it’s done, it doesn’t really change that, but like I said, maybe from the outside it will a bit, but not for me.”
Lawrence is only 20-30 as a starter, but he lost his rookie season to a poor coaching hire by the Jaguars. Urban Meyer lasted only 13 games and is considered one of the worst hires in NFL history.
After a Pro Bowl season in 2022, Lawrence had a lingering knee injury late last season. The Jaguars started 8-3 and finished 1-5 and out of the playoffs as Lawrence missed one game and threw seven of his 14 interceptions in the final six games.
The Jaguars believe in Lawrence or they wouldn’t have committed the money they committed to him.
So, how quickly could they see their investment pay off?
Jacksonville had a good offseason, but so did the Texans, the Colts and the Titans.
“I think this is definitely the best team that we’ve had here in my eyes, just at this point in the year from what I’ve seen. I feel very confident in that,” Lawrence said.