Christian Kirk says Trevor Lawrence has more responsibilities in Year 3
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Christian Kirk is looking forward to the 2023 season. A huge piece of that is because quarterback Trevor Lawrence is looking to take the next step in his third season.
Kirk explained that as Lawrence looks to go from one of the game’s promising young players to one of the NFL‘s superstars. To do that, he’s taking on more responsibilities.
“The keys are his and we have the saying of, ‘Trevor can get to anything at any time,’” Kirk said. “It’s basically his toolbox of all the tools he’s been equipped within the offense, and when we go out there, if he sees something on the fly or if the defense comes out in something we maybe weren’t expecting, he knows where to go and what to get to put us into a better play.”
In Trevor Lawrence’s second season as Jacksonville’s starting quarterback, he led them to the playoffs and got a win over the Los Angeles Chargers in the playoffs. Over the course of the season, according to Kirk, Lawrence earned more and more trust from the coaching staff and that’s where his added responsibilities come from.
“They trust him to be able to do that, and that’s a thing that we did really well, especially towards the end of the year. Just being able to read and react and him thinking on his toes. Also, knowing what we’re good at and being able to identify those mismatches. He does a really good job and communicates with us, skill players especially, of where his mind is going into the week of what he can get to.”
Last season, in the first year that Kirk and Lawrence played together, Kirk quickly became a favorite target for the young signal-caller. For the year, Kirk had 84 receptions for 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns.
“I think he’s played at a high level for a long time. I know early on last year, his second year in the league, there’s definitely some learning curves. But I still think he was playing at a high level,” Kirk said. “It was more of us coming together as a team and learning how to play together. He’s progressively getting better, but I wouldn’t say that there’s a drastic difference in his level of play.”
Doug Pederson believes Trevor Lawrence has exceeded NFL expectations
After a rocky rookie season, Trevor Lawrence came on strong in 2022. Now, his head coach Doug Pederson says he’s the real deal and thinks that he’s exceeded expectations.
“He’s the real deal,” Pederson said. “He’s a sponge on the practice field, he’s a great communicator with us as a staff, great leader. (And) he’s the guy we all anticipated he was, and he is. We’re excited for that. He’s still young. He’s got a lot of ball ahead of him.”