On Saturday night, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the NFL will finally get to see the number one overall pick in this year’s draft, QB Trevor Lawrence, who will make his NFL debut in Jacksonville against the Cleveland Browns.
“Yeah, I’m pumped. First game, obviously,” Lawrence said on Thursday. “It’s nice we’re playing at home, in front of the home crowd. So, we’re really excited; we’ve been working the past three or four weeks, but really even since the spring. Just trying to get ready for these moments, and this will be good. A lot of people are going to play, but in our minds, it’s a real game; we’re still trying to win the game. A lot of people look at preseason differently, but I think this is where it starts for the Jags this year, is game one, preseason.”
However, at this point, Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer has not decided who will be the starter. Will it be Lawrence or Gardner Minshew?
“We’ll finalize that tonight,” Meyer said about who will be the starter against Cleveland. “I asked [Passing Game Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer] Schotty and [Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell] Bev, but they’ll both play. A lot of it’s who’s going to be behind. We just want to make sure we have protected both those quarterbacks, but both will play.”
Before he took the job with Jacksonville, Meyer did not know much about Minshew, but Meyer has a lot of respect for Minshew after spending time with the third-year quarterback.
“I didn’t know [Gardner] Minshew [III]. I knew his coach very well, [Gardner Minshew III’s head coach at Washington State] Mike Leach,” Meyer said. “I don’t say we got off to a bad start, but I just didn’t see very much of him. But he’s earned my respect. I love that guy. He’s a warrior competitor; he’s a fighter. I told him that. I just have great respect for Minshew. He brings it every day now, every day.”
No matter who is the starter against the Browns, Lawrence hopes two things happen on Saturday night.
“First of all, to win the game, that’s the main goal,” Lawrence said. “I know, like I said, some people look at it differently. Here it’s just the first game for us. Whoever is in there is trying to win that game. And I guess individually, for me, it’s just to do my job, nothing more than that. If I do my job, it’ll put us in a position to win. So, that’s all I’m looking to doing is every play doing the best I can, putting us in a good spot, getting it to our playmakers. That’s all it is; being a quarterback is getting it to our best players. So, that’s all I’m going to do.”
The wise thing to do is have Lawrence start against the Browns, which will probably be likely, but hey, we’ll find out soon enough.
