JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne Jr. have played four seasons together with the Jacksonville Jaguars after three seasons together at Clemson, but at no point has Etienne seen Lawrence play as well as he has over the past two months.
And especially not the way he played against the New York Jets on Sunday.
Lawrence threw for 330 yards and a career-high five touchdowns and ran for another in the Jaguars’ 48-20 rout at EverBank Stadium. That makes him the only player in NFL history with five or more passing TDs, one or more rushing TDs and at least 50 rushing yards in a single game, per ESPN Research.
“I don’t think I ever seen Trevor like this,” Etienne said. “We won a national championship together and I feel like he’s just out there.
“He’s on fire, man.”
So are the Jaguars (10-4). The victory over the Jets was their fifth in a row, four of which have been by 17 or more points, and the run has them sitting with a 99% chance to make the playoffs and 65% chance to win the AFC South, per ESPN Analytics. They have a one-game lead in the division over the Houston Texans heading into next Sunday’s game in Denver.
Lawrence is a major reason why. He has 14 touchdown passes, 6 interceptions and 4 rushing touchdowns in the past seven games. He has thrown a league-high six go-ahead TD passes and led two game-winning drives in that span. The Jaguars are 6-1 in that stretch, with the only loss coming in Week 10 at Houston. Against the Jets, he completed 11 of 14 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns on throws of 10-plus yards downfield. He also threw for a career-high 150 yards against the blitz and posted the best passer rating of his career (136.7).
“Very proud of Trevor and his preparation, the way that he’s practiced, the way that he’s continued to lead our offense and do what we’re asking him to do,” coach Liam Coen said. “He’s playing at a high level right now.”
Lawrence did a lot of that despite playing with a jammed index finger on his right (throwing) hand, an injury he said he sustained when he tried to throw the ball into the ground to kill a play midway through the second quarter. He got his finger taped, stayed in the game and threw three more TD passes before exiting the game with 10:32 to play.
One of his completions after the injury was a 33-yarder to Parker Washington on a third-and-10. Lawrence had to evade pressure, rolled to his left and unloaded the pass just before getting hit by Jets edge rusher Will McDonald IV. Washington ran under the ball and made a sliding catch at the Jets’ 15-yard line.
As he jogged downfield after the play, Lawrence looked over at the sideline and gave a Michael Jordan-like shrug.
“That’s him being a football player and making a play. So yeah, I would say that he was one of his better performances that I’ve seen,” Coen said.
As for what Etienne said, Lawrence indicated his confidence — in the offensive system and the players around him — is at an all-time high.
“There’s been times where I’ve felt that way but definitely this is as confident as I’ve felt,” he said. “Just the feeling in our locker room and our team and our offense, it’s been fun. So we have to continue to build on that and can’t get complacent. There’s still a lot more ahead of us. Some big games are coming up, so we have to continue to push and get better.”
