The Jacksonville Jaguars begin mandatory minicamp with a lot of hope. They have a new coach in Urban Meyer and a new quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, but with any rookie quarterback, there will be growing pains. However, for Lawrence, those pains are in his hamstring.
The number one overall pick in this year’s draft has been dealing with a nagging hamstring injury that has limited him during minicamp, but according to Meyer, if this were a real game, Lawrence would be a go.
“Yeah, if we had to go, he could’ve went,” Meyer said on Monday. “Our trainers and Shad [Khan] are being a little cautious because right now, when you’re a month out if you yank a hamstring now, you’re going to miss the early part of training camp. So, we’re just being cautious. That’s that one muscle that—you guys have all seen it like I have, [if] you pull a hamstring at this point, you’re going to miss all your summer conditioning, so we’re being somewhat conservative on it. But he actually could play a game if we had to.”
Lawrence added: “I’m just trying to work it back to full capacity. It’s a little frustrating just not being able to go full speed, but I’m feeling good. [I’m] just trying to not have any more setbacks, so [I’m] taking it slow, got some good reps today, just starting to get more and more each day this week and just kind of work back into it. But it’s doing great, trying to work it back.”
Regarding Lawerence’s ability to execute the team’s offense, Meyer thinks it’s been a mixed bag.
“His retention and carry over has been very good,” Meyer said. “Execution at times, like you would imagine, has been up and down, especially when they start changing the looks up on defense—which obviously is going to happen a ton. But we’re very pleased with where he is. The summer is going to be great, and training camp is going to be great.”
One guy who has been impressed by Lawrence is the newest Jaguars CB Shaquill Griffin.
“I feel like the main thing is he is very exposed, so when the ball is out, it’s out. I can tell when you see him throw, so even if I’m out on the sideline, I’m watching him throw to different receivers,” Griffin said. “The rotation of the ball, the timing, the way he’s putting it there, away from everybody, it’s just insane to see that so early in a quarterback. You’re talking about coming in the league with so much high hopes, and he’s proving it. That’s why I’m so excited for him.”
It’s one day at a time for Lawrence, and hopefully, for the Jaguars, he can grow into the franchise quarterback this team desperately needs.
