Projected Jaguars’ Pick Trevor Lawrence Provides Update on Shoulder Recovery
Trevor Lawrence provided an important and positive update on his recovery from shoulder surgery this week, letting all of Northeast Florida take a deep sigh of relief.
Lawrence, who is projected to be selected No. 1 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2021 NFL Draft on April 29, had surgery on his left shoulder on Feb. 16. And according to the quarterback, the progress on his non-throwing shoulder is going even better than he expected.
"As you know, this is really the first serious thing that I've dealt with, but I'm doing great," Lawrence said to ESPN's Stephania Bell in an interview this week.
"I actually feel way better than I thought I would at this point."
This is an important update from Lawrence, even if it was widely expected. The Heisman Trophy runner-up has posted about his recovery on social media in recent days as well, showing off his work with MOTUS Physical Therapy.
Lawrence's recovery is expected to take five to six months, a timeline that would ideally have Lawrence on the field and cleared completely for training camp. It remains to be seen what kind of schedule NFL teams will have for training camp this fall, but Lawrence moved up his Pro Day to recover from his surgery sooner.
The Jaguars hold the first overall pick for the first time in franchise history and sent head coach Urban Meyer, offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, and passing game coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to watch Lawrence throw at Clemson for his pro day, a throwing session in which Meyer stood just a few yards away from Lawrence, chatting with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney as he watched his likely future quarterback throw.
"The number one thing that stood out to me is we found a week ago that he had a left labrum tear. We've had a bunch of phone calls with him. We did a zoom call with him," Meyer told NFL Network's Jane Slater following the February pro day.
"And I asked him, I said there's three choices you have -- number one is you can wait till March 11th Pro Day, but now you're getting your August and it's getting late. Because it's a five- to six-month injury. The second thing; you can not throw. He's probably a good enough player he could have said 'I'm not doing it', him and his agent. Or the third thing I said; why don't you just grab a ball and go throw for a little bit."
"I'd like to have our coordinator and passing game coordinator watch. They've never seen you. I've seen you. And he said 'let's go.' That was it," Meyer continued."That's a guy that loves football. That's a guy that's confident in his ability. And that was really impressive."
Lawrence's physical therapist, Drew Morcos, told Bell and ESPN Lawrence is "expected to remain in a brace for about two more weeks and if the rehab goes as planned, to begin throwing in about six to eight weeks, likely with a modified version, such as throwing from his knees."
In his career, Lawrence completed 66% of his passes for 10,098 yards (8.9 yards per attempt, 9.8 adjusted yards per attempt) for 90 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He also rushed for 943 yards and 18 touchdowns. He ended his college career with a bonkers 34-2 (.944) record as a starter, which included a national title and a perfect record through his first 25 games as a starter.
