Jags’ Trevor Lawrence stumbles, recovers for successful TD

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Trevor Lawrence panicked.

Liam Coen thought: Throw it away.

Travis Hunter had no thought what was occurring.

It was a chaotic few seconds for the Jacksonville Jaguars, however by the point it was over Lawrence was ultimately zone and the Jaguars had a 31-28 victory over the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs at EverBank Stadium on Monday evening.

“It was a loopy, loopy end,” Lawrence mentioned.

That is in all probability one of the simplest ways to explain his 1-yard landing run after he fell when proper guard Patrick Mekari stepped on his foot — although Coen provided up “goofy.” Lawrence tried to get again up, stumbled once more, then acquired to his ft with the intention of throwing the ball away earlier than seeing a lane and taking off, finally diving into the tip zone with 23 seconds left.

It may need been an unconventional end, nevertheless it was a major second for the maligned Lawrence, who had a tough begin to the season whereas studying his third offense below his third head coach for the reason that franchise chosen him No. 1 in 2021. His second landing run capped Jacksonville’s comeback from a 14-0 deficit and confirmed a nationwide viewers he could make the Jaguars reliable contenders within the AFC.

“It is a goofy end, however what a tricky second for him to have the ability to say he wasn’t going to lose, and that is type of actually what it comes right down to,” Coen mentioned. “He wasn’t going to lose and he made an unbelievable particular person effort that hopefully can proceed to springboard us.”

Lawrence accomplished 18 of 25 passes for 221 yards with a landing and an interception, together with his finest throw a 33-yarder to Brian Thomas Jr. on a 3rd down on the successful drive. Three performs later, he took a snap from the 1-yard line, fell, stumbled once more, acquired up, ran to his left, broke a sort out and dove for the TD.

“I imply, I simply panicked, truthfully,” Lawrence mentioned. “I used to be making an attempt to rise up to get the ball out of my fingers. We did not have any timeouts left so I used to be actually going to simply get up and launch it out the again of the tip zone.”

It was becoming that Lawrence received the sport with a run as a result of he mentioned after the Sept. 28 sport in opposition to San Francisco that he felt like he missed some alternatives to run the ball. He ended up main the Jaguars in speeding Monday evening (54 yards on 10 carries), which included a 10-yard TD run within the third quarter. His two scramble TDs in opposition to the Chiefs equaled his complete scramble TDs in his first 4 seasons.

“That is one thing I’ve realized simply the primary couple weeks. I believe I’ve had some alternatives to have the ability to lengthen performs utilizing my legs,” Lawrence mentioned. “That is our best asset on third down in addition to guys getting open in protection. The defensive schemes are actually good, and generally they cowl all the fellows, and our O-line has been blocking rather well, so having the ability to escape, use my legs, make the protection defend the entire discipline … made a huge impact for us tonight.”

Lawrence additionally had zero off-target throws for simply the second time on this profession. He did that whereas lacking tight finish Brenton Unusual (hip) for the whole second half and shedding middle Robert Hainsey within the fourth quarter.

“I imply, I simply panicked, truthfully. I used to be making an attempt to rise up to get the ball out of my fingers. We did not have any timeouts left so I used to be actually going to simply get up and launch it out the again of the tip zone.”

Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence

“Trevor has simply been a canine, regardless of the adversity that he was [dealing with], what we needed to undergo,” mentioned Hunter, who had a season-high 64 yards receiving on three catches, together with a 44-yarder that arrange the Jaguars’ second landing. “He simply continued to go subsequent play, subsequent play mindset and continued to deliver the offense together with him.”

What he additionally did was put the Jaguars atop the AFC with the identical report as Buffalo and Indianapolis and proved, by beating Patrick Mahomes head-to-head, that the Jaguars must be taken severely as a contender.

“We have now to take it week by week and clearly we expect we’re a great group, so we imagine that,” Lawrence mentioned. “However you do not hearken to the skin noise and never lots of these individuals have been round originally of the season.

“So, it is actually concerning the guys in that locker room, the employees, coach, all of the those who put the work in and we’ve got that confidence and perception. That is what issues.”

ESPN Analysis contributed to this report.