Dabo Swinney proud of Trevor Lawrence for bouncing back after ‘chaotic’ rookie year

Trevor Lawrence had an interesting first year in the NFL. The Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback and former Clemson star played under former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer as a rookie.

There was plenty of drama with Meyer during that 2021 season, and after 13 games, Meyer was fired.

Jacksonville finished 3-14 during Lawrence’s rookie season, but Year 2 was a bit of a coming out party for Trevor Lawrence. The Jaguars finished the regular season with a 9-8 record, won a playoff game against the Chargers and gave the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs a tough game in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said at the ACC Football Kickoff event that he was proud of Lawrence for what he did in his second season in the NFL.

“Oh man, it was awesome to see him find his footing a little bit. I think the first year was chaotic,” Swinney said. “Man, Trevor’s in a great place. He just is who he is. There’s nothing he does that surprises me. He’s never going to rest on his laurels. He’s going to always be prepared. He’s going to work his tail off. He can take the punches as they come. And I think they’ve done a good job of putting a good group around him.”

In addition to dealing with plenty of drama with Meyer as the head coach, Jacksonville was also without one of its first round picks in fellow former Clemson star Travis Etienne. The running back missed his entire rookie year with an injury, before bouncing back to put together an impressive performance in 2022.

Swinney believes Lawrence and Jacksonville could be even better in 2023. After getting a taste of the playoffs last season, Jacksonville will look to take another step forward in Lawrence’s third season in the NFL.

“They didn’t have Etienne. And it was awesome to see Etienne get healthy and to see how they competed,” Swinney said. “And man, they were really close. They were right there. I’ve known Doug [Pederson] for a while now. … He does a great job. Does a great job with the team. Does a great job with the quarterback. And [Lawrence] gets [Calvin] Ridley back this year. And hopefully Travis stays healthy. They’ll be a tough out.”

Lawrence threw for 4,113 yards, with 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions last season. He and the Jaguars will open their 2023 campaign on Sept. 10 at the Colts. Jacksonville begins preseason play on Saturday at Dallas.