JACKSONVILLE – His is the most important position, and he’s the priority.
Doug Pederson this week made that clear about quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and the Jaguars’ head coach made something specific about the fourth-year veteran particularly clear:
His availability – and therefore his health – matters above all.
“That’s the most important thing,” Pederson said.
Pederson, entering his third season as the Jaguars’ head coach, discussed Lawrence extensively this past Monday when speaking with the media during the AFC Coaches Breakfast at the 2024 NFL Annual Meeting at the Ritz Carlton Grand Lakes. He expressed confidence in Lawrence’s development and approach and emphasized that he must avoid long stretches of injuries such as he faced late last season.
The injuries and final stretch helped define a season in which the Jaguars started 8-3 before missing the postseason with a loss in the final game of the regular season.
“We’ve got to make sure he’s taking every snap every day out there at practice,” Pederson said of Lawrence. “If he does that, then more good things are going to happen.”
That wasn’t the case for Lawrence late last season, when he left three of the Jaguars’ final six games with injuries. Lawrence played through a concussion, a shoulder injury and a high-ankle sprain during that time. He missed just one game – a Week 17 victory over Carolina – but he practiced full just one of the last five weeks of the season.
The Jaguars went 1-5 during the last month and a half of the season, with Lawrence throwing seven touchdowns with seven interceptions. They went 13-3 in 16 games before that with Lawrence throwing 29 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
“At the quarterback position, when you miss a Wednesday practice, a Thursday practice, and maybe you kind of go through some individual work early and then you don’t take any team reps, that’s going to affect you on game…
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