Open Extended Reactions
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Trevor Lawrence didn’t have much to worry about the past several months.
No recovery from a shoulder injury. No change in the footwork he has used on his quarterback drops since he started playing the game. Nor did he have to learn another new offense.
All of which is why the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback has had the best spring of his six-year career.
"Last year [there was] a lot more to take in and your mind is racing a little bit because you're thinking about a lot," Lawrence said. "… It's just a lot calmer."
It's noticeable, especially to coach Liam Coen. He said Lawrence looked a lot like he did in the final seven games of last season when he threw 18 touchdown passes, rushed for four more, and turned the ball over only five times. The Jaguars won every game, claimed the AFC South title, and Lawrence ended up in MVP consideration (he finished fifth).
"He's got a very calm mind," Coen said. "He's able to just call a play, see it, visualize it, and then go and just play. Just go play. You're not thinking about your footwork. We're still coaching it, absolutely, but he's got such a grasp for it that you're hopeful that it allows him to just go be him and go be the best version of himself as we saw so much towards the back half of the last year and taking growth from that."
What sparked Lawrence's surge in 2025 was a Monday conversation with Coen after the Jaguars' Week 10 loss in Houston in which Coen told him to “let it rip.” Lawrence knew the offense, was making the right protection calls and audibles, but he wasn’t playing as freely as Coen wanted — and needed.
Once Lawrence mastered that, the passing offense took off. And the points piled up. After averaging 24 points per game in the first 11 weeks, the Jaguars averaged 34.4 points per game in the final seven weeks — second only to the Los Angeles Rams (35.1).
Coen has seen Lawrence continue that this spring, which has allowed for more development in the offense and chemistry to develop. They have worked on going down the field more — especially with Brian Thomas Jr. — and Coen has encouraged Lawrence to experiment with different throws and to take some chances.
"A lot more confident in my progressions and what I know about the system so when I get on the grass it's a lot less thinking," Lawrence said. "The biggest thing is I can react, play faster, can work on some different things of my game because the focus isn't as much on what to do and what's the playcall and what are all the adjustments. I know all that stuff and still study that and work on it because it's easy to forget little details, but as far as being able to work on more detailed things with the receivers and the communication … we're a lot further ahead this year."
Offensive coordinator Grant Udinski pointed out an example of one of those detailed things Lawrence referenced.
"The other day he goes out and makes a protection call that we haven't called or really gone through with the group in months because it hadn't really been [used] since the season," Udinski said. "And he goes out there and calls it and the guys are able to execute it.
"That was encouraging just to see him go out there and kind of pick up right where we left off in the fall."
Center Robert Hainsey played in Tampa in 2024 when Coen was the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator. The Jaguars signed him in March 2025 to be the starter and to also help Lawrence in learning Coen’s system. Lawrence operated the offense at a high level last season and looks like he’ll be even better in 2026, he said.
"I was very honest when I said his growth has been a catalyst for our improvement as a team," Hainsey said. "I think over the course of this offseason, he's taken even more steps."
So does Coen.
"I don't know how many picks he actually threw, but I've got to believe it was under five throughout all of OTAs and minicamp," he said. "So, I think while trying to challenge himself and our receivers more with down-the-field passing, challenging him to try new things and fit some throws into maybe windows you would otherwise take a check down in … while balancing that, I thought he did a really nice job taking care of the football, running the whole operation, managing the protections and some of the concepts on the field.
"Yeah, I'm pleased with Trevor's spring. Absolutely."
