Trevor Lawrence got ready for the regular season by leading two long touchdown drives against the Atlanta Falcons, who were mostly backups fighting for roster spots. The Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Falcons 31-0 in their preseason finale on Friday night.
Lawrence completed 8 of 10 passes for 91 yards, including two touchdown passes to tight end Evan Engram, one for 6 yards and the other for 5 yards, before ending his night.
“It was a good night, very clean,” Lawrence said. “As far as just our team, our offense, where we’re at, I think we’re in a great spot.”
The Jaguars made the game look easy, which wasn’t surprising since the Falcons didn’t use any of their starters. Many top backups also stayed on the sideline, including rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who was the No. 8 pick in the draft.
New coach Raheem Morris decided to only play Penix in one preseason game, even though Kirk Cousins is set to start. Morris felt he got enough from practice and didn’t want to risk an injury.
“I hold more value in the joint practices, the mimic scrimmage we were able to simulate,” Morris said. “You don’t get mulligans on losing guys in the preseason.”
Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons, missed the preseason while recovering from an Achilles injury that ended his last season with the Minnesota Vikings. He’s been practicing and should be ready for the regular season.
The Falcons aim to end a run of six consecutive losing seasons, but Morris believes in his approach to preseason play.
“We’ll continue that philosophy as long as I’m the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons,” he said.
The Jaguars (3-0) chose a different approach for their preseason games, using most of their starters after resting them the previous week. They easily defeated the Falcons (0-3), who were led by third-string quarterback Taylor Heinicke.
Jacksonville outpaced Atlanta with 412 total yards compared to 157 and recorded 30 first downs, while the Falcons had only eight.
“I don’t look at it as us versus them,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said. “Yeah, there’s a man over you and then you’ve got to do your best to win that matchup. But it’s more about assignment football. When your starters don’t play a ton in games like this, you want them to come away feeling good about themselves.”
After an unnecessary roughness penalty on a punt return pushed the Jaguars back to their own 8-yard line, Lawrence led a nine-play, 92-yard drive for the first touchdown.
Travis Etienne had a 19-yard run, Lawrence completed a 38-yard catch and run to Brian Thomas Jr., and Engram finished the drive with a leaping catch in the back of the end zone on a third-and-goal from the 6.
Jacksonville’s second drive was slower but still successful. They moved 62 yards in 13 plays, converting a fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 19 with Tank Bigsby’s 2-yard run, and Lawrence connected with Engram again on a third-and-goal, this time with a 5-yard pass to the left corner of the end zone.
Former New England starter Mac Jones, hoping to revive his career as Lawrence’s backup, took over on Jacksonville’s third drive. He threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Cooks, who made a great catch with just 18 seconds left in the first half.
