Lawrence: Jaguars can’t be ‘so fragile’
Trevor Lawrence admits that mistakes in all facets of the game cost his Jacksonville Jaguars team the chance to compete with Chicago in the second of the year’s London Games, but maintains that something can still be salvaged from what is now a 1-5 season.
Speaking in the wake of a lopsided 35-16 drubbing by the Bears at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Jaguars quarterback lamented a number of errors that ultimately impacted on the result — including a potential touchdown dropped in the endzone and a crucial fumble that Chicago turned into a score of their own — but said that they would regroup ahead of this weekend’s game against New England, also in London, with one eye on halting a slump that ostensibly extends back to the middle of last season.
“Obviously, the way the game turned out, some critical errors all the way around would point to that,” Lawrence conceded when asked whether a lack of focus had contributed to the loss. “I felt like we were ready to play. I thought we had a good week. Even considering [travelling over from the USA], you know, we had a good plan, good week. I felt like we were ready to go. Then obviously it didn’t go our way.
“We didn’t make enough plays, didn’t execute and had just too many mistakes, which kind of started to accumulate, whether it was turnovers or assignments, little things here and there. There’s enough blame to go around for everybody, including myself. It just seemed like our plan and our plays were there, and we made a lot of them, but then we made some crucial errors too. It felt like, when we got some big plays, we would have some penalties or we would turn it over. Then we didn’t play complementary [football]. When the defense got a stop, we didn’t score. When we got a big kick return, we didn’t score. When we turned it over, they went and scored. The quickest way to lose in this league is to not take advantage of your opportunities when you get that momentum. I felt like we didn’t take advantage of it today.”
Accused so far this season of starting slowly and having to play catch-up, the Jaguars actually got on the board first, but had to settle for a field goal after WR Gabe Davis dropped what looked like a routine touchdown pass from Lawrence.
“It’s football. That happens. I missed a couple throws tonight too, so it’s going to happen,” he said of the drop. “You want those guys to catch every ball, and that would be great, because they want to catch every ball. But that’s just not this game: you’re going to makes mistakes, and stuff is going to happen. We ended up getting a field goal, and it’s 3-0 us. You would love to score, but it’s a long game.
“I think, as a team, we can’t [afford to] be so fragile. It’s not going to go perfect every week. Most weeks aren’t going to go perfect, and you’re going to have to sometimes dig yourself out of a hole. We got down in the second quarter and had an opportunity to come out of half-time [with the ball] and didn’t take advantage of it. Obviously, you look back and every play matters but, no, I don’t think [the drop] was a huge momentum shift.”
The opportunity to turn the opening possession of the second half into points that would have reined in a 14-3 Bears lead was lost when returning Evan Engram fumbled, but Lawrence was quick to praise the tight end’s resilience in bouncing back with crucial catches on the Jaguars’ next drive.
“I’m not surprised at all,” the quarterback insisted. “Evan is a guy I have a lot of trust in. It’s good to have him back. He made some big plays today. That’s why I’m talking about [being] fragile as a team. Yeah, he had a fumble and that can affect the game, but it’s one play. So you have to bounce back as an individual, but also the team around you has to pick you up. Offensively, we’ve got to go make more plays next time we get the ball. Defensively, we have to get a stop. It’s on all of us. So there’s going to be mistakes — and we had two turnovers today, which didn’t help us — but you have to be able to overcome stuff too. You can’t just say, ‘Oh, we don’t want to turn the ball over’. So what happens when you do turn it over? Do you just stop playing? I know [Engram] is beating himself up, but it’s not on him. I mean, it’s one play in a long game, and you have to be able to overcome stuff like that.
“We have to take accountability. We have to go play well and find a way to win. It’s not going to go perfect, but just find a way to win in the end and put yourself in position to. That’s what sucks is today we didn’t have a chance to because we made too many mistakes. But we got 11 more games, so there’s definitely a way back. We’ve just got to take care of business on our end. It’s a long season, and we have a lot of football left.
“I think how we respond is the biggest thing. The good thing is we play next week. We get another opportunity. We’re staying here. We’re not going anywhere and we have to stick together. Obviously, you want to watch the tape and take all the accountability and really figure out what you can do better as an individual, as an offense. Just take it for what it is and then move on. By the time Tuesday, Wednesday comes around, we have to be moved on to getting ready for New England because this league doesn’t slow up. You play a good team every week. Whatever we can do to get our minds, our bodies all ready to go and play well on Sunday, that’s the biggest thing. That’s all we can do.”