The Jaguars came into Sunday’s game off the Eagles on a two-game winning streak and it looked like they might extend it to three after they jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but the rest of the game sent them crashing back to Earth.
A big reason why they faltered were five turnovers by quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence looked uncomfortable playing in the rain and the wet conditions played in a role in some of his four lost fumbles over the course of the afternoon.
Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson seems to think the conditions were a major factor. He said Monday that he will talk to Lawrence about strategies for dealing with the rain in the future and that he thinks the game will prove to be an aberration in the long run.
“Let’s hope it’s a blip,” Pederson said, via the team’s website. “I don’t think it’s a setback. I think it’s a blip. You hate to say it, but maybe it’s one of those games in the season where just nothing goes right. It happens. I never make excuses. We have to do a better job of hanging onto the football. He knows that. That’s the prize possession out there. If we make the plays that were left on the field, it might be a different outcome today.”
Lawrence only had turnover in the first three weeks, which supports the idea that Sunday’s loss was an outlier rather than a sign of things to come for the quarterback.