Trevor Lawrence on adversity through start of NFL career: 'I've been through all the mixes'

Trevor Lawrence wasn’t used to such adversity until he hit the NFL. At Clemson, he always was golden andcompeting for titles. But as the Jaguars quarterback looked back on his first three seasons, he acknowledged he’s hit all the emotions.

His most recent big moment was agreeing to a five-year extension that tied him with Joe Burrow as the highest-paid quarterback in league history. Of course, that distinction probably will be obsolete until the next quarterback signs.

The Jaguars quarterback was the top pick of the NFL Draft. But his first head coach (Urban Meyer) didn’t make it through the first year. Jacksonville made the playoffs his second season, only to miss out in 2023 with a disastrous ending.

Lawrence alluded to the happiness/turmoil in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated. As an optimist, he chooses to believe all of it makes him a better quarterback.

“I think that experience is probably the best teacher,” Lawrence told SI. “Everyone says the big thing is the ‘whys’ learned from other people’s mistakes. I do think that’s true. But I also think there are some things you just kind of have to go through. And you learn a lot when you experience them. I’ve been through all the mixes. A terrible season. A season that started really bad and we finished really great, which was 2022. And last year was the opposite, started great and finished really bad.”

The Jaguars quarterback continued: “So I’ve experienced all those elements of it, and I understand how this game works. The NFL is just different. It’s a long season; it really is about who’s playing best in December, January, February; not September, October, November. You have to be playing your best at the right time, the end of the year. I think I have a better perspective of all of that. I’d say that’s the biggest thing.”

Last season represented all the “mixes” of emotions in 2023. On Thanksgiving weekend last year, the Jaguars upped their record to 8-3 thanks to a victory over the upstart Texans. The next Sunday, the Jags lost in overtime to the Bengals, but at 8-4, all goals still were in front of them. But the wheels had come off. Jacksonville lost five of its final six games.

The Jaguars lone win during the stretch was a 26-0 shutout of the Panthers, the worst team in the NFL. Rather than Jacksonville, the Texans and Colts played for the AFC South title during the final weekend of the regular season.

But it’s all a learning experience. Figure out what happened, then spin it forward.

“Obviously, you’d prefer to finish really strong that year and put yourself in a better position,” says the Jaguars quarterback. “Not necessarily leverage-wise, but just feeling good about the future, feeling really sure about it. I think that left a little bit of a sour taste in all our mouths, the way we finished.”

Lawrence added: “I believe in the player I am. And now it feels good, and I knew they did already, that the organization believed in me.”