Watch Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars take on Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals live on Sky Sports NFL from 1:20 pm early Friday morning.
The last time Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence met on the field, the former led LSU to a 42-25 win over Clemson in a 2020 National College Championship match.
Few saw Burrow approaching; everyone saw Lawrence approaching. They will meet for the first time in the NFL Thursday night when the Cincinnati Bengals hosts the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Both quickly realized that it remained a treacherous move into the professional arena for rookie quarterbacks, Burrow suffered heavy punishment for the porous offensive line before his first year was cut short by injury, and Lawrence has realized in recent weeks how much faster and smarter the NFL’s defense is. compared to what he faced in college.
Lawrence currently shares seven interceptions in the league with Zach Wilson’s No. 2 overall in the opening weeks of the season, making 64 of 118 assists (54.2%) for 669 yards and five touchdowns in a Jaguars win-win.
“Everyone is different and everyone has different situations,” he said this week. “I also don’t expect it to take a year or two before I start taking care of the ball and playing better. I’m in that direction right now and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and I feel like we have a lot of work to do and a lot of games to win.
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“I’m going to speed it up as quickly as possible. I didn’t play with all my strength, but I know there is still a lot of good ahead. “
Sunday’s defeat to the Arizona Cardinals saw Lawrence showcase more ground threats, totaling 943 yards and 18 touchdowns in three seasons at Clemson as he ran 27 yards from six carries.
His interception opportunities were also expanded this week with the arrival of tight end Dan Arnold in an exchange from the Carolina Panthers that pushed second-year corner-back CJ Henderson in the opposite direction. Arnold, an unused free agent from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2017, made 31 hauls at 438 yards and four touchdowns in 2020.
The Jaguar offensive has yet to hit the mark behind Lawrence and the likes of James Robinson, DJ Chark, Marvin Jones and Lavisca Chenot, who are 27th in points and the second most red zone opportunity in the league this year.
