JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence trudged through the hallway, walked into the locker room and slapped a laundry bin. He briefly stopped at his stall and then made a beeline for veteran center Mitch Morse.
They had a lot to discuss. It may have been the first step toward Lawrence fixing the team’s woeful offense.
Lawrence and the Jaguars were baffled for the second time in as many weeks. Lawrence completed 14 of 30 passes for 220 yards in an 18-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. He was sacked four times, including once for a late safety, and vented his frustration following the team’s seventh loss in its last eight games.
“We suck right now, so I’m pretty shocked,” said Lawrence, who has dropped his last seven NFL starts and gone a career-long 294 days since his last victory. “We’ve got to figure it out. … Everybody has got to take accountability, look in the mirror and fix it. I’ve got to play better. I’m the leader of this offense. It’s on me.”
The Jaguars (0-2) finished with 323 yards, but 210 of those came on their final four drives. Before that, Lawrence and the Jaguars had third-down woes, communication issues that caused them to burn two timeouts and even a bickering exchange between Lawrence and coach Doug Pederson on the sideline.
“We’re on the same page,” Lawrence insisted.
No one who’s watched the Jaguars the first two games would agree.
They got off to a strong start at Miami last week and were about to pull ahead 24-7 late in the third quarter when Travis Etienne fumbled near the goal line. Jacksonville has mostly stumbled since.
Between the second half against the Dolphins and the first half Sunday, the Jaguars managed 186 yards, three points and two third-down conversions in 10 tries.
“We’ve got to take charge,” Lawrence said. “We’re standing around waiting on somebody to make a play. … We’ve got to find a rhythm as an offense. Too many good players to perform like that, really the last two weeks.”
While Lawrence and Morse were discussing issues in the locker room, Pederson and owner Shad Khan were behind closed doors down the hall. Khan made it clear before the season that “winning now” is his expectation.
Jacksonville’s revamped defense allowed 20 and 18 points in the losses. The offense, meanwhile, has been downright pedestrian while Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor continue to hide which one of them is really calling plays.
“I’m at a loss because we’ve been together for a while now,” Pederson said of his Year 3 team. “We shouldn’t be playing the way we’re playing. We shouldn’t be coaching the way we’re coaching. I take accountability there. It starts with me. Then it goes to the assistant coaches and players. I just know that we’re a better football team than what we played today.”
Lawrence has 26 completions in two games and has been sacked seven times. Etienne has 96 yards rushing. Christian Kirk has two catches for 29 yards. Tight end Evan Engram has one reception and was ruled out an hour before kickoff Sunday after straining a hamstring in warmups.
“I don’t think you hit the panic button,” Pederson said. “There’s a long season ahead. We’ve got to figure some things out in a hurry. We’ve got to coach some things and do some things. Each person has to look at themselves in the mirror, me included.
“We’ve got to do better. It’s disappointing. It’s disappointing because there’s glimpses of greatness out there, but it’s not consistent enough.”
Jacksonville could easily be 2-0 heading to Buffalo for a Monday night game had the offense pulled its weight. The Jaguars went 1 of 4 in the red zone against Cleveland a week after fumbling away a touchdown.
“We’ve got to be honest with ourselves, and if you don’t like it and if you made a mistake and you don’t like people calling it out and talking about it, you need to find a different job because this isn’t the one,” Lawrence said. “Things matter. Little details matter. … You look back at it, and all those plays add up and they affect the game, and you end up losing.”
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