Eyebrows were raised when first-year Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen revealed on the first day of the club’s mandatory minicamp that quarterback Trevor Lawrence was spotted wearing a compression sleeve on his throwing arm due to “general soreness.”
While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Lawrence attempted to pour cold water over concerns related to what doesn’t seem to be a serious matter heading into Jacksonville’s summer break.
“You’ve got to think about, I hadn’t thrown, before (organized team activities), since December,” Lawrence explained, Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons shared. “So, it was about four months of not throwing. And that’s like, I’ve never — I couldn’t tell you the last time I didn’t throw for four months. I guess four years ago, when I got surgery.”
Lawrence was referring to how the Jaguars shut him down this past December so he could have a procedure done on his non-throwing shoulder. In total, he played in only 10 games during the season that Jacksonville finished with a record of 4-13.
Lawrence is learning a new system under Coen, who earned the Jaguars’ gig after he enjoyed a solid campaign serving as the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. According to ESPN stats, Coen’s Buccaneers finished the 2024 regular season ranked third in the NFL with an average of 399.5 yards gained per game and fourth with an average of 29.5 points scored per contest.
“I started throwing a couple of weeks before we started the offseason program,” Lawrence added on Thursday. “But then we jumped into practice and heavy volume. And I think just over time, I mean, obviously, you’ve got to adjust and get in shape for that. So just a little bit of soreness. The compression helps just relieve some of that. But that’s all it is, so nothing I’m concerned about.”
Much has been made about how Lawrence regressed while working with former head coach Doug Pederson last season after the 25-year-old signed a five-year contract extension worth up to $275M in June 2024. Lawrence will look to play up to the value of that deal starting with the Week 1 matchup versus the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 7, but he’ll first need to spend a portion of the summer getting his right arm ready for in-game action.
