JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Rookie quarterback and No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence was voted one of Jacksonville’s seven team captains for the season.
Coach Urban Meyer unveiled the list during a team meeting Wednesday by showing a 3-minute video featuring friends and family members breaking the news to the newly crowned captains. Meyer then presented each player with a teal jersey that had a C sewn on the front.
“It was great,” Lawrence said. “It’s a really cool feeling, especially as a younger guy just having that support from my teammates. Being named a starter and now a captain, nothing changes. Same expectation and now it’s time to go out there and win some games.
“But I’m really excited. It’s definitely an honor. It’s a cool moment for me to be named a captain with those other guys, just a bunch of great guys in the locker room. We had a ton of guys that got votes but definitely really cool.”
The Jaguars open the season at Houston on Sunday.
Linebacker Myles Jack, pass rusher Josh Allen, cornerback Shaquill Griffin, safety Rayshawn Jenkins, receiver Marvin Jones and center Brandon Linder are the team’s other captains. Linder became the franchise’s first five-time captain.
Jack was the top vote-getter, Meyer said, adding that Lawrence was third.
“I was impressed he was up there, I want to say third in vote gets,” Meyer said. “That’s a credit to him.”
Lawrence is the third rookie quarterback in the past two years to be named a captain, joining Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Zach Wilson of the New York Jets. Burrow was the No. 1 pick in 2020, and Wilson was drafted second behind Lawrence in April.
Lawrence was voted a captain despite spending four months in a supposed quarterback competition with two-year starter Gardner Minshew. Minshew was traded to Philadelphia three days after Lawrence was named the starter.
“I guess it brings clarity to everything, but at the same time, there’s a ton of guys on our team that won’t have that C (on their jerseys) that are just as much a leader as me or anyone else,” Lawrence said. “That does mean something, but also there’s a lot of other guys that help lead this thing.
“We’re all in it together. No one person has to carry it all. … But definitely an honor and proud four sure.”
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