Trevor Lawrence Experiences Both Impressive and Rookie Moments in Preseason Debut

For all intents and purposes, Saturday was the most important debut in Jacksonville Jaguars' history as No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence took his first snap at TIAA Bank Field.

And in somewhat poetic fashion, it kicked off in the same way the debut of most rookie quarterbacks begins: with the quintessential "welcome to the NFL, rookie" moment.

With Lawrence taking the first offensive snap of the Jaguars' Week 1 preseason tilt against the Cleveland Browns, Lawrence was quickly reminded he is no longer at Clemson as he held onto the ball a second too long and Sheldon Day brought him down for a sack, forcing a fumble that Lawrence recovered.

But Lawrence's rookie moment didn't last. Two short plays later, Lawrence faced his first third-down as a rookie; a third-and-10, with the Browns intent on bringing pressure. This was Lawrence's chance to show growth from the first play.

Lawrence did just that, too. Lawrence dropped back and quickly rocketed a pass to Marvin Jones on the left sideline for a 10-yard gain. While only a gain of 10, it was a play that showed the natural arm strength and talent of Lawrence, traits that have been missing at the quarterback position for the Jaguars for years upon years.

Laser from @TrevorLawrencee for the first down.

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Lawrence's preseason debut went much like his first three plays. Some good, some bad, but a whole lot of evidence to support why he was proclaimed a future No. 1 pick since his freshman year of college. The No. 1 pick finished the game completing 6-of-9 passes for 71 yards (7.9 yards per attempt) and a passer rating of 90.5.

"But I asked the same thing to Bev [Darrell Bevell]–not Bev, but Schotty [Brian Schottenheimer]. I said, ‘How did he play? He said, ‘He did pretty good.’ I thought the ball to his left right in front of us, I think it was 3rd down, he really anticipated a nice out-cut, scrambled and delivered a nice one down to Marvin Jones," Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer said after the game when asked to sum up Lawrence's performance.

There were some negatives, though, such as Lawrence taking two sacks (behind an admittedly shaky offensive line) and missing an early third-down throw to Laviska Shenault. Lawrence, whose mobility is one of his greatest assets, seemed like he confined himself to the pocket on Saturday, leading to him allowing the pressure to get to him too often.

"But I do believe he held the ball a little bit, and I've got to find out why. We've got to find out why," Meyer said.

"I think using my legs a little bit in those situations when protection is great, we don't have anybody open, they're just matching us well on defense. They had some good zone calls today," Lawrence said after the game, agreeing with the sentiment that he held onto the ball too long at times.

"Just using my legs to extend some plays and put us in a better situation. I think I could have done that a little bit better tonight for sure, but no, it didn't have anything to do with me not trying to take a hit or anything.

The rookie signal-caller played the first two drives for the Jaguars' offense, leading to a punt on the first drive and a turnover on downs on the second drive. But even with a zero on the scoreboard, the Jaguars walked away encouraged.

But there were also plays like the aforementioned completion to Jones and then the big play of the night, a highlight-reel throw from Lawrence on third-and-10.

With the Jaguars' offensive line holding their ground and left tackle Cam Robinson delivering a clutch block, Lawrence was able to float a pass 30-yards downfield and over first-round cornerback Greg Newsome's head, landing into the hands of Jones yet again.

TREVOR LAWRENCE DIME 😲

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The play resulted in a 35-yard conversion, the biggest gain for either team on the night. It was a throw that looked like it came right out of Lawrence's college highlight tape, the kind of field-stretching throw the Jaguars have failed to consistently see from the quarterback position since the days of Mark Brunnel.

"I was in the pocket for forever, so eventually it ended up turning into a scramble basically because he's seeing me back there like, all right, I hit you up three, four times, nobody is open, and he did a good job of getting open and reacting," Lawrence said about the play after the game. "... and that's something we've been working through camp is a scramble drill, and I didn't actually scramble, but everyone has that time clock of, all right, the play is not working as it was designed; at this point we've got to make something happen.

"He did a good job, reacted quick, went up field, and at that point I saw his back turned. I could have probably led him a little bit more, I just didn't want to overthrow him with the DB's back turned, so he made a great catch.

Lawrence has plenty to work on moving past the Browns game. The rookie quarterback will assuredly have to improve his mental clock and get the ball out faster, while also working on the little things at the position.

But Lawrence also has plenty to build on. The rookie showed the ability to convert third-downs with pressure in his face, as well as an exceptional arm by NFL standards.

The Jaguars are supporting Lawrence for the long haul, and the expectation is for the No. 1 pick to get better and better as gains more experience. Now, the rest will be up to Lawrence.