The Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive issues rest on the shoulders of QB Trevor Lawrence

It was short, to the point and accurate.

“We suck right now,” said Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence after an 18-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at the untimely named “TrEverBank Stadium” — where he forever will be 0-1 unless EverBank, which has the naming rights and also a partnership with Lawrence, decides to take a mulligan on the one-game deal to name the structure after a quarterback who hasn’t won there in 301 days and counting.

Lawrence was at least honest but there’s a time quickly approaching, if not already here, when taking the blame needs to be turned into action.

“I’m at a loss,” admitted coach Doug Pederson. “I just know we’re a better football team than what we played today.”

Here’s the scary part: the Jaguars are 0-2 and hit the road to play Buffalo (2-0) and Houston (2-0) in the next two weeks. Being 0-4 entering October will send fans scrambling to peruse 2025 mock drafts rather than 2024 depth charts.

Trevor Lawrence took the blame. Is it enough?

No one has ever accused Lawrence of not being accountable when he’s played poorly, but Sunday’s game, filled with indecision, poor decisions, passes thrown high and wild and valuable time-outs wasted to avoid delay of game penalties was the latest in a string of performances hardly up to the standard expected when the team decided to shell out $275 million in June to keep Lawrence in the fold for another five years.

This is Lawrence’s fourth year in the NFL. Mitigating factors, such as the ordeal of his 2021 rookie season under inept coaching and organization or struggling with injuries in the second half of the 2023 season are old news, especially if Lawrence is the franchise quarterback he was supposed to be.

“We had a great offseason, great training camp and we’ve got to figure it out,” he said. “We’ve got good players and we can be a good offense. Clearly we’re not. Look in the mirror, fix it. I’ve got to play better. The wideouts have to play better. The line’s got to play better. Running backs, coaching ... it’s everybody, honestly.”

Jaguars offense went 11 possessions without a TD

Lawrence completed 14 of 30 passes for 220 yards against the Browns, posting his first sub-.500 completion percentage since the middle of his rookie year, a span of 26 games.

The offense was so non-productive that when he finally connected with rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. for a 66-yard gain late in the third quarter that set up a 4-yard touchdown by Travis Etienne, Lawrence more than doubled his passing yardage to that point.

Until that scoring drive, which cut the Browns’ lead to 16-10, Lawrence and the offense had not scored a touchdown in 11 consecutive possessions (the second half last week against Miami and most of the first three periods against Cleveland), coming away with only one Cam Little field goal and 144 yards of offense on 50 plays (2.8 per play).

During that span, Lawrence completed 10 of 23 passes (43.5 percent) for 87 yards, with a passer rating of 54.08. The only silver lining, which matters little if a quarterback loses the game anyway, is that Lawrence hasn't turned the ball over this year, after 14 interceptions and seven fumbles last season.

Red zone and protection issues continue to plague the offense, as is the continual issue of who’s calling the plays, Pederson or offensive coordinator Press Taylor, and why that process is taking so long to get plays to Lawrence, get the team lined up and snap the ball.

Offense lost Evan Engram before the game

It’s true that Lawrence only found out minutes before the game, along with everyone else, that tight end and security blanket Evan Engram injured his hamstring in warmups. It also rained on and off throughout the game. The Browns also have a solid defense and sacked Lawrence four times.

But franchise quarterbacks find a way to overcome adversity.

And it’s not like Lawrence hasn’t done it before.

In 2022, when the Jaguars went 6-2 in the second half of the season to win the AFC South and win the division, Lawrence was magical in engineering comeback victories over Baltimore, Dallas and Tennessee, and then overcame the single worst half of his career when he threw four interceptions in the playoff game against the Los Angeles Chargers and then brought the team back from a 27-0 deficit to win 31-30.

Lawrence hasn’t won a home game since Nov. 19, 2023, against Tennessee. He’s lost his last seven starts. There is an expectation that a Doug Pederson offense with Lawrence at quarterback, a 1,000-yard rusher as the feature back in Etienne and a posse of sleek, fast wide receivers should score more than the 30 points in the first two games.

Plus, the Jaguars' defense has given only 38 points in the first two games.

“The defense is playing their a— off,” Lawrence said. “We should win every week.”

Pederson also took note that it’s Week 2 of a 17-game season and division rivals Indianapolis and Tennessee are also 0-2, as are the Baltimore Ravens. Dallas was blown out at home by New Orleans. Arizona blasted the Los Angeles Rams. Minnesota upset San Francisco.

“You don’t hit the panic button,” Pederson said. “It’s a long season but we’ve got to figure some things out.”

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: The Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive issues rest on the shoulders of QB Trevor Lawrence