Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence knows that expectations are high in 2023 coming off a playoff berth this past season.
It’s fair to say Jacksonville overachieved in 2022, largely due to Lawrence, the 2021 No. 1 overall pick, taking the next step and the arrival of Super Bowl-winning head coach Doug Pederson. Now the favorite to win the AFC South for the second consecutive season, Lawrence said the hard work must continue if the Jaguars are going to live up to those lofty expectations.
“Yeah, obviously the better you play, the more success you have, the more expectations you’re going to have,” Lawrence told Sara Walsh of NFL Network Saturday. “That’s the position you want to be in, so that’s a good thing, but you also have to work the same way, you have to treat everything the same way as it was when there weren’t any expectations, when people didn’t expect much of us, when no one expected us to win those games and we wanted to prove everybody wrong. You have to keep that chip on your shoulder and also we just have to keep our circle tight.
“It’s about the people in this building, my teammates, the coaches, it’s not really about the outside opinions, good or bad. At the end of the day you’ve got to go play on Sunday, and I think that’s the mindset that helped us get here, and to take that next step we’ve got to keep that, keep it tight.”
Lawrence, one year removed from leading the NFL with 17 interceptions, took the next step in his development in 2022. The former Clemson Tiger threw for 4,113 yards with 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions on 66.3% passing, earning the first Pro Bowl appearance of his career.
Trevor Lawrence excited to get to work with Calvin Ridley
Lawrence’s production came without star wideout Calvin Ridley, whom the team acquired from the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 1, 2022. During his last full season in 2020, Ridley hauled in 90 receptions for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns. The NFL suspended Ridley, 28, for the entirety of the 2022 season after an investigation found he bet on NFL games over a five-day stretch in November 2021.
The Jaguars acquired Ridley from the Falcons in exchange for a 2023 fifth-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024 that could become a second-round pick if the Jaguars sign Ridley to an extension. Ridley is set to play on his fifth-year option in 2023 and will earn $11.116 million in guaranteed money.
Lawrence is excited to have Ridley in the offense alongside Travis Etienne, Christian Kirk and Evan Engram among others.
“Yeah, all of that is, I can echo that,” Lawrence said of Pederson’s praise for Ridley. “Obviously, the fans are excited he’s here, and we’re all excited he’s here, and just his work ethic and the way he practices, I mean he’s such a special talent for one, but it’s cool to see that paired with the way that he works.
“I mean every play, every route that he’s in, it’s full speed. There’s no plays that he takes off, he wants the ball every play, and he just goes about things the right way, he wants to earn what he’s going to get, and he’s doing that right now. I’m just happy he’s on our team.”
