JACKSONVILLE – He has been very good, and he keeps getting better.
Trevor Lawrence began the 2026 regular season playing similarly to how he finished the 2025 season – and if that's a very good thing for the Jaguars, it's no surprise to those around him. And if outsiders are seeing it more, that means little to the Jaguars' starting quarterback.
"All that stuff is funny," Lawrence said.
Lawrence, who threw four touchdowns with no interceptions in a season-opening victory over the Cleveland Browns, spoke to the media Wednesday as the AFC South-leading Jaguars (1-0) prepared to play the Denver Broncos (0-1) Sunday. Multiple teammates discussed Lawrence Wednesday, speaking of a leader who continues to ascend weekly.
"That's who he is," Jaguars tight end Brenton Strangee said. "That's who we expect him to be. He's the leader on our team and one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. That's the confidence we have in him.
"We all want to continue to grow. We all want to help him out. We all want to make his job easy."
Lawrence, now in his sixth season, has thrown 23 touchdowns with five interceptions during the Jaguars' nine-game regular-season winning streak. He finished fifth in Associated Press Most Valuable Player balloting last season.
Lawrence said such recognition "doesn't move the needle much for me."
"I've been through a lot of good and bad," he said. "It just is what it is. We played well Sunday, so hopefully our whole team's getting a little bit of credit for it. At the end of the day, we have another one this Sunday in Denver.
"People forget pretty quickly in this league, whether it's good or bad. We have to move on."
Lawrence on Sunday had perhaps his best Week 1 performance in six NFL seasons, completing 18 of 23 passes for 245 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. He threw passes to nine different receivers, including four touchdown passes to four different receivers: Strange, wide receiver Parker Washington, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and rookie wide receiver Josh Cameron.
"I thought it was really good start to building off of some of the things we really liked – and some of the areas we wanted to continue to improve," Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen said. "He took care of the football as well, which was a huge deal for us.
"If we can continue to see that, that's the consistency we're all looking for."
Defensive end Josh Hines-Allen called Lawrence's performance Sunday Trevor being Trevor."
"He has a lot of trust in our scheme and a lot of trust in his players," Hines-Allen said. "It's just going out there and making a lot of plays."
Jaguars players, both offense and defense, on Wednesday spoke of Lawrence as a locker-room wide leader – a longtime strength of Lawrence's that has only grown stronger.
"The confidence he carries each and every day and how he leads each day, it's just special," Washington said, with cornerback Jourdan Lewis – a 10th-year NFL veteran – adding, "This is his team."
"He understands how to command it," Lewis said. "It feels like he's taking control of it. He has complete control of the offense and you can feel that energy on the defensive end. You can tell he has control. That's contagious for the whole football team when your quarterback is playing with that kind of confidence.
"It's his demeanor. He's very calm. Nothing rattles him too much. That's his superpower. He can stay even-keel in any situation and he can make plays wherever.
"He's an amazing player and he's taking that next step to be the leader we need."
NOTABLE
Jaguars center Robert Hainsey said he is approaching practice this week a bit differently to prepare for the noise expected in Mile High Sunday. "Typically, I always look at the defense," he said following practice Wednesday. "Today, I was trying to remember to look at Trevor because it's loud, so I look at him so I can watch him talk and see his mouth move, so it helps you helps you hear it in the huddle." Hainsey said the difference is about "intentionality of your communication and your cadence, listening in the huddle, being in tune in the huddle." He added, "Instead of just being there looking away, I was trying to do that. Even though I can hear him in practice if I'm looking away, I was trying to remind myself to do that. Those are the little things that kind of going to carry over."
