Trevor Lawrence not playing like he's worth $275 million early in training camp

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ $275 million man hasn’t been sharp in the first two days of training camp.

Before anyone panics about three interceptions on underthrown balls in the red zone and two other passes on Thursday that sailed high from quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the team has practiced in helmets and shorts both days at the Miller Electric Center and of course, it’s early.

And maybe, just maybe, the Jaguars' defense under new coordinator Ryan Nielsen will be much improved. The first unit especially has looked good in red-zone defense in the first two days of camp.

Still, Lawrence, who signed a five-year contract in June, has made a habit in the past of being on-target early in training camp and he’s been struggling to find a rhythm so far in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 team periods.

He was picked off by cornerback Ronald Darby on the first day and safety Andrew Wingard victimized Lawrence on both picks on day two, both in 11 on 11 periods and both in the left corner of the end zone. Lawrence underthrew Christian Kirk on the first pick and Evan Engram on the second.

Wingard played the second one for all it was worth, jumping up and down and getting the crowd into it. And one fan yelled, “That’s two, Trevor!”

It was Lawrence’s last play of practice.

Lawrence was 3 for 7 in 11-on-11 periods and 5 for 8 in 7 on 7. In two days he’s 15 of 26 in team periods (57.7).

With a fumble by tight end Luke Farrell at the end of a completed pass on Thursday, the offense has six turnovers in two days in the red zone, four while Lawrence has taken snaps.

But with 18 training camp practices and three preseason games left, there’s plenty of time for Lawrence to right the ship.

Practice report

Duration: 1 hour, 45 minutes, helmets and shorts.

Weather conditions: Temperature 81 degrees and cloudy to start, 86 degrees and party cloudy to finish. Humidity 76 percent, heat index 88 degrees.

Injuries: None reported. Safety Darnell Savage wore a red non-contact jersey for the second day in a row but participated in team periods.

Offense: CJ Beathard, Mac Jones on-target

• The other Jaguars quarterbacks had better days than QB1. C.J. Beathard was 5 of 7 in 7 on 7 with a TD pass to Devin Durvenay (who slipped good coverage by De’Antre Prince) and was 6 of 9 in 11 on 11, with a TD pass on a nice post move to Denzel Mims. Mac Jones was 3 of 4 in 11 on 11 and 6 of 9 in 7 on 7, with a TD pass in the latter to tight end Josh Pederson.
• Pederson’s TD catch was his second in two days.
• First-round draft pick Brian Thomas Jr. let a high pass from Lawrence go through his hands in the back corner of the end zone. He caught his first pass of camp on a screen and bobbled the ball before he secured it.
• Farrell's fumble came when he failed to hold onto a low ball from Lawrence after beating Ventrell Miller over the middle. Foye Oluokun recovered the ball.
• Wide receivers Parker Washington and Elijah Cooks both made good sliding catches on low balls. The catch by Cooks was perhaps Lawrence’s best throw of the day, on a roll-out.

Defense

• In addition to the interceptions, passes were broken up by Darby, Tre Flowers and Tevaughn Campbell.
• Nose tackle Jeremiah Ledbetter made several good plays in run support.
• Linebacker Chad Muma struggled in pass coverage and and was beat by Travis Etienne over the middle for a touchdown in the red zone on a Beathard pass.

Special teams

• Placekickers Cam Little and Riley Patterson took turns for the first time in camp on the main practice field. Little, a seventh-round draft pick, was 5 of 5 from 33, 45, 48, 52 and 55 yards and Patterson missed the 55-yard attempt wide right. Patterson later made a field-goal attempt of 45 yards after a team period.
• Little attempted a 45-yard field goal later at the end of the final team period and missed to the right.
• For the second day in a row, a punt returner fumbled a kick against no coverage. Mims bobbled a short punt from the machine that he had to run forward to catch.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Trevor Lawrence not playing like he's worth $275 million early in training camp