JACKSONVILLE — Trevor Lawrence opened his sixth NFL season by completing 18 of 23 passes for 245 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, extending the Jaguars’ regular-season winning streak to nine games as the AFC South-leading club (1-0) prepares to visit the Denver Broncos (0-1) Sunday at Mile High.
Lawrence, who finished fifth in Associated Press Most Valuable Player balloting last season, has thrown 23 touchdowns against five interceptions during the nine-game streak. He distributed the ball to nine different receivers against Cleveland, hitting four different targets for touchdowns: tight end Brenton Strange, wide receivers Parker Washington and Jakobi Meyers, and rookie wide receiver Josh Cameron.
“I thought it was really good start to building off of some of the things we really liked - and some of the areas we wanted to continue to improve,” Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen said. “He took care of the football as well, which was a huge deal for us. If we can continue to see that, that’s the consistency we’re all looking for.”
Lawrence shrugged off the growing praise. “All that stuff is funny,” he said. “I’ve been through a lot of good and bad. It just is what it is. We played well Sunday, so hopefully our whole team’s getting a little bit of credit for it. At the end of the day, we have another one this Sunday in Denver. People forget pretty quickly in this league, whether it’s good or bad. We have to move on.”
Teammates across the roster described a quarterback whose command of the locker room has matched his command of the offense. “That’s who he is,” Strange said. “That’s who we expect him to be. He’s the leader on our team and one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. That’s the confidence we have in him. We all want to continue to grow. We all want to help him out. We all want to make his job easy.”
Cornerback Jourdan Lewis, a 10th-year NFL veteran, offered the most pointed assessment. “This is his team,” Lewis said. “It feels like he’s taking control of it. He has complete control of the offense and you can feel that energy on the defensive end. It’s his demeanor. He’s very calm. Nothing rattles him too much. That’s his superpower. He’s an amazing player and he’s taking that next step to be the leader we need.”
Washington echoed that view. “The confidence he carries each and every day and how he leads each day, it’s just special,” Washington said. Hines-Allen added that Lawrence “has a lot of trust in our scheme and a lot of trust in his players. It’s just going out there and making a lot of plays.”
Center Robert Hainsey said he is already adjusting his preparation for the crowd noise expected at Mile High. “Typically, I always look at the defense,” Hainsey said. “Today, I was trying to remember to look at Trevor because it’s loud, so I look at him so I can watch him talk and see his mouth move, so it helps you helps you hear it in the huddle.” Hainsey called the difference “intentionality of your communication and your cadence, listening in the huddle, being in tune in the huddle.”
The Jaguars travel to Denver for a Sunday kickoff against the Broncos.