Trevor Lawrence will make his NFL debut in Jacksonville on September 12 against the Houston Texans as the Jaguars’ starting quarterback.
Lawrence has been contending with Gardner Minshew II for the starting job during training camp and the preseason, but it was just a matter of time before he was granted the chance to be under the center on game day.
“We wanted him to earn it,” Meyer told reporters on Wednesday. “After (Monday) night’s performance — it was good, obviously not great. We didn’t run the ball very well, but I kind of in my mind, after the second preseason that we kind of have to get someone ready to play in three weeks.”
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The Clemson product had a spectacular collegiate career, leading the Tigers to a National Championship in his freshman season and throwing for 10,098 yards and 90 touchdowns over the course of his three years.
Most expected first-year head coach Urban Meyer to designate him the starting quarterback for week one early in training camp, but Minshew excelled, and Meyer delayed making his decision until Wednesday.
“He’s a much different player than Trevor,” Meyer said of Minshew on Monday. “Trevor’s a down-the-field passer, this guy’s a scramble-around, make-plays guy, but I’ll tell you what he really is, he’s a warrior. And I appreciate warriors. It’s a street fight right now.”
With a new head coach and a new scheme — not to mention the fact that Meyer was coming off a catastrophic 1-15 season — Meyer had no choice but to start Lawrence. The two are inextricably linked, and with Meyer transitioning from the college game, tying your wagon to the draft’s first choice is never a terrible idea.
“The college game and NFL game, in my opinion, it’s never been closer,” Meyer said. “The college player has changed. The NFL scheme has changed. You think about the two of those things, NFL scheme used to be dramatically different than college. And the college player used to be much different — the young kid. Those aren’t young kids anymore. Now, a lot of them are gonna start getting paid, the empowerment that’s gone on in college football, the mindset of a college athlete, especially when you get to the players I was fortunate to have, it’s all about the NFL, make no mistake about it. … The two worlds have probably never been closer. There are differences, but they’ve never been closer.”
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