Ready For Round 2 Against Trevor Lawrence

Players and coaches expect the Jacksonville Jaguars rookie quarterback has learned some things since their Week 5 encounter.

NASHVILLE – Since the formation of the AFC South in 2002, the Tennessee Titans are the only one of the division’s four teams that has not picked first in the NFL Draft.

The Titans “earned” the No. 1 overall selection in 2016 but made a couple deals and eventually got tackle Jack Conklin at No. 8.

The others seized the opportunity to choose a franchise quarterback once each. Houston took David Carr first in 2002 (the Texans went with defense when they had the top choice in 2006 and 2014). Indianapolis landed Andrew Luck in 2012, and Jacksonville got Trevor Lawrence this year.

Tennessee (8-4) gets its second crack at Lawrence on Sunday when the Jaguars (2-10) come to Nissan Stadium. They expect to see a different – and likely better – player than they saw in Week 5 at Jacksonville.

“I think he’s starting to understand a little bit what defenses are throwing at him,” Tennessee defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said. “Teams are doing a lot against him. Teams are showing him a lot of different looks. … In that first game, I thought he played pretty well against us.”

Based on their limited history, the Titans’ results in the second matchups with a No. 1 overall picks did not turn out much different than the first ones. And what happened in the years that followed remained remarkably consistent.

With that in mind, Lawrence’s first meeting with Tennessee was a mixed bag.

He completed 69.7 percent of his passes (23 of 33), which is his second-best rate thus far, and threw for 273 yards, a number he has topped in just two other contests. He had one touchdown pass and threw one interception in a 37-19 Titans’ victory.

Lawrence also ran seven times for 28 yards with one touchdown. In seven games since, he has not had more than five rushing attempts.

“He’s mobile,” defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons said. “He’s not only a guy who can beat you with his arm, he can move around the pocket. He can get outside the pocket, and I think that’s what we have to limit in this game.”

A look at how the Titans fared against the other quarterbacks selected No. 1 overall by AFC South opponents during their respective rookie seasons, and how those players performed against Tennessee throughout their careers:

DAVID CARR

First meeting: Week 10 – 19-34, 182 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs, 4 sacks. Tennessee 17, Houston 10

Second meeting: Week 17 – 21-40, 214 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 3 sacks. Tennessee 13, Houston 3

Carr stepped right into action with the NFL’s most recent expansion team and paid a heavy price. He was sacked 76 times as a rookie, when the Texans went 4-12, and things did not get much better from there. He was the league’s most sacked quarterback in three of his first four seasons. He ultimately played 11 games against Tennessee and no team sacked him more often (40 times). It took until Year 3 before he finally beat the Titans. Houston swept the season series in 2004, but Carr finished his career 2-9 against the Titans and threw more interceptions (13) than touchdown passes (10) in those contests.

ANDREW LUCK

First meeting: Week 8 – 26-38, 297 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks. Indianapolis 19, Tennessee 13

Second meeting: Week 14 – 16-34, 196 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs, 4 sacks. Indianapolis 27, Tennessee 23

Luck’s rookie season was a precursor for what was to come until his abrupt retirement in 2019. Like Carr, Luck faced the Titans 11 times but – unlike Carr – he won all 11, a number of them in dramatic fashion. Although logic suggests that Tennessee’s defense would figure him out to a certain degree over time, Luck’s completion percentage (63.7), passer rating (98.4) and average yards per attempt (8.2) against the Titans exceeded his overall career numbers. As a rookie, he went 11-5 and led the Colts to the postseason. Overall, he went 53-33 with four playoff appearances and a winning record in every season in which he played more than half the games.