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How Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence's OK stats turn into a successful 2025 debut
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- How Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence's OK stats turn into a successful 2025 debut
He committed an opening-drive intentional grounding penalty, occasionally chased the play clock by giving his teammates instructions not quickly enough and had a third quarter interception.
But the positives for Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence clearly outweighed those negatives. Overwhelming so. Importantly so. Critically so.
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The Jaguars beat the Carolina Panthers 26-10 on Sunday. For this organization, any win should be celebrated.
Lawrence and coach/play-caller Liam Coen appeared on the same page in their first full game together. Their relationship will tell the tale for this season and ideally for the Jaguars, seasons to come.
MORE FROM O'HALLORAN: What we learned about Jaguars in Liam Coen, Travis Hunter debut
And Lawrence finished his first start healthy since sustaining a concussion last Dec. 1 against the Houston Texans . He showed no hesitation in and around the pocket.
See why Week 1 should be considered a building block/stepping stone for Lawrence despite average numbers (19 of 31 for 178 yards, one touchdown and one interception)?
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As confident as the Jaguars were in Lawrence — and vice versa — entering the regular season, you just never know until the real stuff happens, real stuff like disguised coverages, surprise blitzes and unexpected up-front alignments.
Throw in the fact that this is yet another new offense for Lawrence, his third in five pro seasons, and this was an important win for No. 16.
"It feels great, especially with all the new going on and the amount of work we put in this offseason," he said. "To be rewarded for it this week and get the win feels good. But it's just (one) week and we have to move on."
'Huge' plays with legs
At least the Jaguars can move on with a 1-0 record. A loss to the Panthers , who appear to be terrible, would have been a sucker punch knowing a trip to Cincinnati is next, followed by Houston at home, at San Francisco and home to Kansas City.
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Two scrambles were plays that jumped out about Lawrence's afternoon. Remember, that's how his season ended last year.
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) makes a pass during the second quarter of an NFL football game between the Carolina Panthers at Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium Sunday September 7, 2025. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]
In a 3-3 game, the Jaguars had regained possession at the Carolina 35 after linebacker Foye Oluokun's interception and faced a third-and-3 from the 14.
Lawrence dropped back against a four-man Carolina rush and saw the Panthers in man coverage and linebacker Christian Rozeboom take off after receiver Brian Thomas Jr. The middle of the field was suddenly wide open.
Lawrence took off, gaining 4 yards, the kind of play quarterbacks like Buffalo's Josh Allen and Baltimore 's Lamar Jackson make. They know a touchdown isn't in the offing, but a drive-extending gain is so they take it. A minimal profit that leads to a bigger reward, which in Lawrence's case was a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Hunter Long.
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"Huge," Coen said. "We talked about that on Friday and you don't get to see (scrambling) in practice. I didn't get it to see it last year (in Tampa Bay) with Baker (Mayfield) either because you're trying to be a quarterback and go through your progressions and go through your reads and play the position."
In the third quarter, Lawrence took off for 10 yards to convert a second-and-10 on a marathon field goal drive (8:07) to bleed the clock.
Can you really get excited about two scrambles in the opening game? If you're Lawrence and the Jaguars, yes.
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Coen was fired up.
"Those were two huge pick-ups for us when he was able to get out there and play it that way," he said.
I asked Lawrence if those two scrambles were particularly important because of the play against Houston.
"Not really something I thought about," he said. "But using your legs as a weapon in this league (is important) and you see the way the league is, that's what you have to do. Defenses are good and they're covering people up and they don't have that extra defender for the quarterback. It's finding a way to use my legs and keep drives alive."
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Maybe we're seeing a new facet of Lawrence's game. Entering Sunday, he had only 231 rushing attempts in 60 games and that includes kneel-downs. But with teams potentially allocating extra attention to Thomas and receiver Travis Hunter and tight end Brenton Strange , the opportunities to safety gain yards could be there.
Overcoming interception
The Jaguars led 20-3 at halftime and were one touchdown from definitely putting Carolina away. But adversity made an appearance.
On the first drive, Lawrence threw two incompletions. On the second drive, two more incompletions, including a bad overthrow to Thomas, and an interception on a deep pass to Hunter. Jaycee Horn made a terrific play but Lawrence needed to put more loft on it.
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Fortunately for Lawrence, the Panthers were flummoxed by the Jaguars' defense, a statement nobody could have made last year.
"I thought he had a not great third quarter to be honest," Coen said. "We need to be more accurate and complete some of those balls when we have people open."
Lawrence rebounded during a 15-play drive in the fourth quarter. He threw 12 yards to Thomas, 6 to Hunter, 14 to Hunter, 10 to Strange and 5 to Hunter. The Jaguars tacked on a field goal for a 23-10 lead.
The eye test showed how comfortable Lawrence appeared at the line. Coen said he made the right changes at the line of scrimmage and Coen pinned the delay of game penalty on the coaches.
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"He's an unbelievable player, leader, captain, quarterback and it felt super smooth out there," center Robert Hainsey said. "It felt like we've been doing it a long time, which we have — we've put a lot of reps in. It was good stuff."
Good stuff was good enough to beat Carolina. Expect very good stuff in the near future from Lawrence now that the first step has been completed.
"Fun to get a win," he said. "That was awesome."
O'Halloran can be reached at rohalloran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars Trevor Lawrence: Average stats become a success
