Trevor Lawrence Talks About His Season With The Jacksonville Jaguars And His Future In The League

Sports Illustrated

Trevor Lawrence joined Sports Illustrated on behalf of Gatorade and broke down the Jacksonville Jaguars season and their expectations moving forward.

Transcript

00:00 - All right, I got Trevor Lawrence, aka Sunshine.

00:05 You talk about the playoffs, if we would have made it.

00:09 Is there a disappointing, is that disappointing to you?

00:13 Not being able to make it this year?

00:15 - Obviously, I mean, you look at what we were able to do

00:18 the year before, and obviously when you have success,

00:21 the expectations are really high,

00:23 not even from the outside, but from within.

00:25 You know, the organization, the team, you know,

00:26 we expected to have a shot to contend for a Super Bowl,

00:30 make a deep playoff run, and as our team got better,

00:33 you know, we added some new guys in the off season,

00:36 and we just weren't able to do that.

00:38 You know, halfway through the year,

00:39 we were in a great spot, and we just weren't able to finish.

00:42 You know, we weren't playing our best ball

00:43 at the end of the season, and that's what it takes

00:45 to be a playoff team, to contend for Super Bowls.

00:48 You gotta start playing your best ball

00:49 at the end of the year, and for us, we didn't do that.

00:52 So, you know, we didn't really deserve to get in,

00:55 and you know, we're gonna get our opportunity next year,

00:57 and we're excited for that.

00:58 - Yeah.

00:59 What do you think the reason or the cause was

01:03 to y'all not playing the best ball

01:04 towards the end of the year?

01:06 - I think, you know, we didn't handle adversity well.

01:08 There were some games where we were kinda up and down

01:11 all season long.

01:12 We had a nice little run, and we won five straight

01:14 in the middle of the year.

01:14 Then after that, we had a couple injuries

01:16 to some key guys.

01:17 You know, I had a bunch of little injuries,

01:20 kinda all year, which was unfortunate,

01:22 and then obviously Christian going down,

01:24 and that Monday night game,

01:25 we were eight and three at that point.

01:26 He went down, missed the rest of the year.

01:28 Zay was hurt for, you know, half the season.

01:31 So we never had all of our guys in the field

01:33 at the same time, and the thing about this league,

01:35 as you know, that's never an excuse.

01:36 You know, you're still expected to perform

01:38 and find a way to win, and for whatever reason,

01:40 you know, we weren't able to do that this year,

01:42 but it puts some pressure on us this off season

01:44 to get better, to improve, I think, for our young guys

01:47 and guys that maybe aren't starters to say,

01:49 hey, this league, like, when my opportunity comes,

01:52 I need to be ready, 'cause you look at last year,

01:54 we had a lot of guys go down, and guys had to step up

01:56 and did a good job, but really, the team counts on 'em.

01:59 So I think it gives us more of an understanding

02:01 of what we need to get better at this off season.

02:03 - All right, off season, contract talk.

02:06 Talk to me about possibly, or you are,

02:10 talk to me about being with the Jacks even longer,

02:13 getting your bread, getting your due,

02:16 being on a team like Jacksonville that historically

02:20 hasn't been a great, you know, organization.

02:22 You get there, you change it with Doug Peterson.

02:25 Talk about the contract extension.

02:27 - Yeah, obviously, that's a big, you know,

02:29 talking point this off season, not for me,

02:31 but kind of for everybody else,

02:32 so I'm not too concerned with it.

02:34 Of course, I'd love to get a deal done at some point,

02:37 you know, we all have dreams and goals of being paid well

02:41 and having success in this league and getting paid for it,

02:45 so I would be lying if I said I didn't want that,

02:48 and I do, but it's all gonna happen at the right time,

02:50 you know, whether that's this off season, next off season,

02:53 don't have the answer to that right now,

02:54 but of course, I want that, but honestly,

02:57 it doesn't change my job, that's what I've said

02:59 the whole time, is I have the same job to do

03:00 whether I get the extension this year, next year,

03:03 whenever, I still am expected to play well,

03:06 to put us in a position to go win a Super Bowl,

03:08 and that's my goal, and I'd love to be in Jacksonville

03:10 for as long as possible, that's home for us now.

03:13 We've built a, you know, we've built a community,

03:15 and obviously, I feel like we're in a great spot as a team,

03:18 and we're heading in the right direction,

03:20 and we just need to keep taking the steps.

03:22 - All right, so obviously, we're in Vegas.

03:25 We got the Chiefs, we got the Niners.

03:27 - Prediction.

03:29 - I need, no, not prediction first,

03:32 let's talk about Brock Purdy, and like his story.

03:34 We had D.R. Sanders come on here and say,

03:36 "Brock Purdy is the most interesting story

03:38 "in the last two decades of the NFL."

03:40 Being a colleague, being a quarterback in the league,

03:44 how has it been just seeing what he has been doing

03:47 as a late round draft pick?

03:49 - It's interesting, you know, I think we're the same class

03:54 coming out of high school.

03:55 He was the draft class right behind me,

03:57 but so we've kind of been, when he was at Iowa State,

04:00 I was at Clemson, I kind of kept track with him,

04:02 and I'm sure the same, and also,

04:04 we were in the same agency at one point,

04:05 so I met him, and I really like him, he's a great guy,

04:07 so we kind of hit it off, and anyway,

04:10 so it is a crazy story, and I think it's interesting

04:13 how as well as he's played, every opportunity he's had,

04:17 I mean, it's kind of, I love to see his numbers

04:19 compared to other people.

04:20 It's probably one of the best starts to a career.

04:22 - Yeah.

04:22 - And top, it's gotta be top 10, top 20

04:25 of all-time quarterbacks, so, and he still gets

04:27 a lot of hate for it, which I think is interesting.

04:30 Obviously, he's on a good team, but I don't know

04:32 what else you can ask of the guy.

04:33 - Right, right. - He plays well, he wins,

04:35 he makes plays in big moments. - Right.

04:38 - So it's been cool, I think, for him, like,

04:40 his character and the person he is,

04:42 it's cool to see guys like that be successful,

04:43 'cause I think he handles it the right way.

04:46 - Okay, Patrick Mahomes, the guy he's going up against.

04:49 A lot of people have him in the conversation

04:52 amongst the greats, like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning already.

04:56 How is it going against Patrick Mahomes?

04:59 Like, when you play, when you have a game

05:01 against the Chiefs, are you like, oh, got Pat this week.

05:04 If we score, he gonna score, I gotta come back.

05:06 Like, how do you think about that?

05:07 I know how I think about a game, going against a DB,

05:10 how I'm game-planning him, obviously you're not

05:12 game-planning Patrick Mahomes.

05:14 But is it like, we got a tough one this week,

05:16 'cause I know the quarterback on the other side

05:17 is gonna do what he has to do.

05:19 - Yeah, your preparation or any of that doesn't change

05:23 based on who you're playing, but you do have an idea of,

05:27 your margin for error is definitely smaller, you know,

05:29 and you have to take advantage of opportunities to score.

05:32 And you can't put your defense in bad spots,

05:33 'cause Pat and the Chiefs, they're gonna take advantage

05:35 of it, and then at the end of the game,

05:37 they're so good at just finding a way to win, you know.

05:39 I feel like so many of their games are close,

05:41 and they might not play great in the first half,

05:43 and then the second half, they just make all the plays

05:45 at the end of the game to win it.

05:46 So you know they're gonna be great situationally,

05:48 so you gotta be really sharp, you gotta play smart football,

05:52 and you gotta score when you get your opportunities.

05:54 And I haven't been able to do that good enough

05:55 the first three times I've played 'em,

05:57 so looking forward to the next opportunity,

05:59 when I get to play 'em, you know,

06:00 hopefully getting his number that week.

06:01 - Who do you have winning?

06:02 I need the prediction now.

06:04 I need it, can you give me one?

06:05 - Yeah, I don't, I hope no one takes this too serious,

06:08 but I think I would take Sanfran, you know.

06:10 But I would not be surprised either way,

06:12 but I'd take Sanfran.

06:14 - All right, I know you're a big golf guy.

06:17 Give me your dream foursome.

06:19 - Man, that is a good question.

06:24 - I like this.

06:25 - I mean, so I got a chance to, not a real round,

06:29 but to play like a part three course with John Daly,

06:32 which was sick.

06:33 So I would honestly add him to it if I didn't do that,

06:35 'cause he's just a super interesting character.

06:38 That was fun.

06:39 I mean, Tiger would have to be up there.

06:41 Trying to think of who else.

06:44 Tiger, and Michael Jordan would be sick.

06:48 - Okay. - Might lose some money though.

06:49 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

06:51 - Obviously myself.

06:53 Now fourth, trying to think of who else is like a,

06:56 who else is like super into golf

06:58 that's not a professional golfer.

06:59 Ah, man.

07:02 You know, I think it would be fun to play with,

07:06 who's I'm thinking of on the tour that,

07:08 I mean, like Bubba Watson, got a chance to meet him.

07:13 He's got a funky game.

07:14 It'd be fun to play with him.

07:16 So I got, I'd played with Jim Furyk the other week

07:19 and that was awesome.

07:20 That was sweet.

07:20 - How did his swing look in?

07:22 - He was dealing with,

07:23 he was getting over a little bit of a back issue.

07:25 So he's just starting to play again,

07:26 but he still looked great.

07:27 He's like, you think he's not playing good

07:29 and he's parring everything.

07:30 - Yeah, right, right, right.

07:32 - It's just crazy how good those guys are.

07:34 They don't make mistakes,

07:34 but no, that would be a fun group though.

07:37 - That's dope, that's dope.

07:38 Talk to us about your partnership with Gatorade, man.

07:41 - I'm here with Gatorade.

07:41 They just launched Gatorade ID.

07:43 You know, it's a membership platform

07:45 where you can join and create your custom bottle,

07:48 you know, so you can put your name on it,

07:49 whatever design you want,

07:50 whatever colors you want.

07:51 See, he's got the purple here.

07:52 - You got the purple one?

07:53 - I like that one, that's pretty sweet.

07:55 But yeah, you can join, anybody can join, gatorade.com

07:58 and you can make your own bottle.

07:59 It's pretty sick.

08:00 - Clemson, last thing.

08:03 How do we get them back on the map?

08:05 Last year, it looked very uncharacteristic.

08:08 - Yeah, they'll be back.

08:09 I got a lot of faith in Coach Sweeney.

08:11 I think he does things the right way,

08:13 but we got some work to do.

08:14 You know, we went from being in the conversation

08:16 probably six years straight of being contenders,

08:18 potential national champions, all that stuff,

08:21 and now we're not on the radar.

08:23 It might be good for us though.

08:23 Put a little chip on our shoulder.

08:25 So I got a lot of faith in Coach Sweeney.

08:26 That's my guy and the guys there.

08:29 They're gonna get it done,

08:30 but we'll see how this year.

08:31 We gotta take a step in the right direction for sure.

08:33 Trevor Lawrence, I gotta get in that four somewhere.

08:36 We gotta play golf soon.

08:38 Hey, I appreciate your time, y'all.

08:39 - Sir, enjoyed it.

08:40 (thud)

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