Jaguars’ biggest headache: QB Trevor Lawrence or WR Brian Thomas Jr.?

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Jaguars’ biggest headache: QB Trevor Lawrence or WR Brian Thomas Jr.?

Douglas Fritz, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Tue, Sep 16, 2025 ·

4 min read

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The post Jaguars' biggest headache: QB Trevor Lawrence or WR Brian Thomas Jr.? appeared first on ClutchPoints .

The Jacksonville Jaguars are coming off a tough loss and the revelation of an injury to their top receiver. Also, the numbers show a big problem with the connection between Brian Thomas Jr. and Trevor Lawrence . But who is the Jaguars' biggest headache between those players?

This isn't a two-game revelation. Mac Jones started the last eight games of the 2024 season for the Jaguars. Not so coincidentally, Thomas became an NFL elite receiver during that stretch. He finished with three 100-yard games out of four, and totaled 91 yards in the other.

So is Lawrence the Thomas killer? Or is there something wrong with Thomas this year?

Jaguars WR Brian Thomas off to bad start

There's no way to sugarcoat the depth of Thomas' start. He has been targeted 19 times, but caught only five passes for 60 yards. That's incredibly poor.

So it's Lawrence, right? His numbers are bad , according to sharpfootballanalysis.com.

"[Lawrence] has completed less than 59% of his passes, #27 in the NFL," Warren Sharp wrote. "Adjusting for the short target depth, Lawrence ranks #32 in the NFL in completion percentage over expectation."

Ick. But wait, maybe it's not all Lawrence.

"The bad news for the Jaguars, but good news for Lawrence, is that it's not Lawrence's inaccuracy that is causing the majority of the problems," Sharp wrote. "Through two games, 33% of Lawrence's incompletions have been the result of receiver error. A whopping 11% of all Lawrence's pass attempts are being dropped by his receivers, the #1 highest of any QB. It's even worse in the red zone. Over 21% of all Lawrence's passes have been dropped."

However, take away the drops, and Lawrence still doesn't come out looking good.

"His 21% pressure rate was the #7 lowest of any QB last week," Sharp wrote.

But let's dig a little deeper. Lawrence has thrown the ball to Thomas 19 times. Thomas has one drop. Granted, it came on fourth-and-five from the Bengals ' 7-yard line when the Jaguars could have pretty much put the game away. But that means 11 of the 12 missed connections reside on Lawrence's doorstep. And since Lawrence is getting good protection, why doesn't the blame land on his front porch?

What about Trevor Lawrence 's history?

Lawrence had a very good second NFL season. He earned Pro Bowl honors, making a nice bounce-back from his 17-interception rookie debut. However, Lawrence has been mediocre since 2022. Last year, he had 11 touchdown passes and seven picks in 10 games. This year, he's at 4 TDs and three interceptions in two games. Check that for pace, and it's a ton of picks over the course of the season.

Head coach Liam Coen said he believes Lawrence is fine, according to jaguars.com.

"I'm pleased with where he is – absolutely," Coen said. "I thought he took big steps from last week to this week," Coen said. "He made some unbelievable throws in that game. There are definitely a few he would like to have back, and there are calls I'd like to have back. There are plays everybody would like to have back, but I am pleased with where he is in terms of the strides he made from Week 1 to Week 2.

"I was very pleased with the way he showed something. He got ticked off at times. [But] he had great dialogue with his teammates on the sidelines. He made some huge throws for us in critical moments."

So, where do the Jaguars go from here? First, they must get Thomas involved early against the Texans in an important AFC South showdown. The Jaguars won't win the division with these numbers, according to a post on X by Ian Hartitz.

When you have an elite receiver and things go badly, you feed him the next week. At least that's what the winning teams do. Getting Lawrence and Thomas on the same page is of the utmost importance for the Jaguars.

Hopefully, Coen is saying different things behind the scenes — as opposed to the quarterback is doing great and there's no need for concern.

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