Trevor Lawrence shows glimpses of potential in Jaguars' preseason loss to Browns

Trevor Lawrence’s highly anticipated debut didn’t produce fireworks on the scoreboard, but he showed signs of why the Jaguars confidently selected him first overall.

Lawrence’s quick night ended with a passing line of 6-of-9 for 71 yards and a 90.5 passer rating in Jacksonville’s 23-13 loss to Cleveland. Along the way, Lawrence delivered a couple of passes that provided a glimpse of what could be ahead.

“I saw good plays,” Meyer said of Lawrence at halftime Saturday, via Jaguars senior writer John Oehser. “I saw a guy who made a couple nice plays on third down. I think he held the ball a little bit a couple times, which you would expect out [of] him maybe.”

It didn’t begin on a positive note. Lawrence was strip-sacked on his first snap, recovering his own fumble before finding his footing a few plays later. His first highlight came on third down, when Lawrence stood in the face of interior pressure and delivered a pass to Marvin Jones near the sideline, connecting with the veteran for a 10-yard gain and a first down.

The completion had a probability of just 43.3 percent, per Next Gen Stats, highlighting Lawrence’s ability to make the unlikely a reality. Later in the quarter, he one-upped himself, delivering a well-placed pass over the head of rookie corner Greg Newsome to Jones for a pickup of 35 yards on third-and-10. That completion had a probability of just 29.6 percent, the most unlikely completion of the night for Jaguars passers, per Next Gen Stats.

Lawrence finished with a completion percentage over expectation of +7.5 on the night, a solid mark for a rookie and the best among first-round rookie passers on Saturday.

Lawrence dealt with pressure fairly often, as Cleveland registered a pressure on three of his 11 dropbacks, which also included two sacks. His production potential will depend on their performance, and they certainly have some things to correct following this game.

Meyer added some of the pressure might have been caused by Lawrence’s hesitancy, which isn’t unusual to see from a rookie playing in his first NFL action.

“Instead of anticipating the throws [he was] holding on to it a little bit, but we have a long way to go,” Meyer said.

It’s all part of the process for a team breaking in its rookie quarterback. For those looking to gauge initial reactions on the start of what Jacksonville hopes will be a long and prosperous era, they have reason to be excited about the future.

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