Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence missed the season’s ultimate 5 video games after he was shut down so he may endure shoulder surgical procedure and, thus, could not stop the firing of head coach Doug Pederson from occurring after Week 18.
Lawrence spoke with media members on Thursday and hinted he and others within the locker room let Pederson down.
“You perceive it is a part of the enterprise, however you are additionally disenchanted and
you really feel some accountability as a result of as a participant you will have affect on the sport. It is on us as nicely,” Lawrence defined, Sports activities Illustrated’s Tom Dierberger shared. “It is unlucky, is one of the best ways to place it, simply since you really feel such as you want you can’ve completed extra and received extra video games.”
Pederson initially appeared considerably of a savior for Lawrence, the primary general decide of the 2021 draft who endured a rocky rookie season throughout City Meyer’s temporary tenure as Jacksonville’s coach. Pederson and Lawrence guided the 2022 Jaguars to a division title and to an epic come-from-behind wild-card playoff victory. The Jaguars then have been 8-3 heading into Week 13 of the 2023 marketing campaign however in the end suffered a stunning collapse that continued by means of this previous weekend.
In complete, Jacksonville went 5-18 over its ultimate 23 video games beneath Pederson as Lawrence noticeably regressed earlier than his newest harm setbacks. Earlier this week, former NFL working again and two-time Tremendous Bowl champion LeSean McCoy seemed to blame Lawrence for Pederson dropping his job.
“Should you requested any of us going into the season,” Lawrence added on Thursday, “nobody would’ve thought coach Pederson would’ve been fired on the finish of the 12 months. And also you simply see the best way the 12 months went, and it is simply disappointing. I feel it is a bizarre feeling however you do perceive it is a part of the enterprise. It’s a must to proceed to get higher, and for no matter motive this 12 months we did not try this. … I feel there’s a whole lot of issues in play relating to that, and it is not simply all on one particular person.”
Lawrence signed a five-year contract extension value as much as $275M final offseason, so he ought to have some say within the Jaguars’ seek for Pederson’s substitute. Latest stories have linked Jacksonville with big-name candidates equivalent to Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, because it’s believed such coaches assume they will flip Lawrence into an elite signal-caller.
Sooner or later, Lawrence must begin proving such believers proper past occasional successful streaks to be definitely worth the cash he acquired in June 2024. If he does not, he may turn into one of many largest “what went improper?” tales in NFL historical past, contemplating all that was said about him earlier than the 2021 draft.
