Lawrence on Jaguars drama: You can't always be in headlines

Updated Dec. 15, 2021 4:37 p.m. ET

Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Trevor Lawrence has never experienced this much drama in a football season. Not in college. Not in high school. Not as a kid growing up in Cartersville, Georgia.

Jacksonville’s starting quarterback is ready for it to end, too.

“I do think that has to change and that’s something that we need to work on for sure,” Lawrence said Wednesday. “You can’t always be in the headlines. You just got to go play football, and that’s where we’re trying to get, and I have no doubt we’ll get there.”

No one expects it to happen anytime soon.

The Jaguars (2-11) have been mostly a punchline since hiring coach Urban Meyer in January. Meyer has created headlines and headaches for just about everyone inside the team’s football facility, and team owner Shad Khan said Monday “what’s different about this thing is you have losses and you have drama.”

The latest one involves an

“I would just say this: There was something that was brought to my attention that I didn’t like too well,” said Jones, who spoke publicly for the first time since the report was published Saturday. “I approached him about it and we talked and we handled it like grown men. And that’s all I have to say about that.”

Jones denied threatening to leave practice over the argument.

“I mean, shoot, when you lose, you’re always going to be the center of attention in a negative way,” Jones said. “That just is what it is. That’s all I have to say.”

Meyer’s biggest issues in recent weeks focused on

Lawrence stepped in after Robinson was benched the second time and made it clear to coaches, including Meyer, that the team’s most consistent offensive player needed to be on the field more.

Meyer also has raised eyebrows for hiring and then firing alleged racist strength coach Chris Doyle; getting fined for having too much contact during offseason practices; signing 2007 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow to play tight end; holding a fake QB competition between Lawrence and Gardner Minshew; being the subject an NFL Players Association investigation after Meyer said vaccination status factored into the team’s roster decisions; and for getting caught on video behaving inappropriately with a woman at an Ohio bar.

“Obviously there’s been a lot of drama,” Lawrence said. “Like whatever has caused everything, who even knows at this point. But there’s been a lot of drama, and for me, I think it’s important to be truthful, but with that, like I said, you can’t say everything that’s on your mind. You have to have a filter and you’ve got to be careful.”

The Jaguars have lost five consecutive games, the longest current skid in the NFL. They also have dropped nine straight against AFC South opponents and seven in a row against Houston (2-11).

“It’s critical right now, this last stretch,” Lawrence said. “You’ve got to finish with some momentum. You’ve got to feel good about where you’re at at the end of the season. Going into the offseason, we need a little bit of momentum.”

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