Critics share their thoughts on Trevor Lawrence’s performance against Cards?

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For the third week in a row, it was a tough outing for Jaguars rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He threw two more interceptions and completed just 64% of his passes while the only positive moment, a touchdown from DJ Chark Jr., came early in the game.

Lawrence’s costliest mistake came on a pick of six when the cover collapsed on a chip flicker and he weakly armed a pass straight to Byron Murphy Jr.

Lawrence’s five touchdowns this season are not to be sneezed at, especially given the production of other rookies, but he needs to make better decisions with the ball to move forward.

It was in large part because of these mistakes that Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports gave Lawrence a “D +” rating for his Week 3 performance against Arizona.

Those numbers – bad in themselves – don’t include two lost fumbles, which gave Lawrence four turnovers in what started out as a winnable game against Arizona. It seems like every conversation about the No.1 pick has to be preceded by a reminder that Jacksonville is rebuilding itself, and Lawrence showed a real NFL touch in his lone touchdown pass to Marvin Jones. But this Week 3 release in itself was more worrying than promising. The Clemson product still looks pretty frantic, which is understandable but not a current winning formula.

Joe Rivera of Sporting News was even less kind in his assessment of Lawrence, giving the rookie a “D” rating in the loss.

It hasn’t been the best performance for the No.1 pick in the first three games of his career, but the good thing is that these are the first three games of his career.

Lawrence pitched two more INTs on Sunday, including a pick of six in the Jags’ loss to Arizona, sending Jacksonville to 0-3 this season. At a minimum, it’s good that Lawrence keeps throwing him, as there are 14 games left to play.

To be fair, Lawrence threw a nice ball at DJ Chark for his one touchdown pass on the day that’s the kind of pitch that reminds you of how good Lawrence can be. These highlights will come more consistently over time, but there’s no reason to water down the fact that Lawrence wasn’t very good at first.

The common theme here is that the turnovers really limit Lawrence’s game so far. He had a little trouble with them at Clemson University, but that problem was more pronounced in the NFL. Lawrence is a gunslinger, and the Jaguars have to hope that the decision will be made sooner rather than later, but for now it’s really hurting Jacksonville’s chances.

ESPN’s James Jackson echoed these sentiments in his assessment of Lawrence.

Lawrence now has seven interceptions in three games. Of the No.1 picks in NFL history, only Peyton Manning (eight in 1998) and Alex Smith (eight in 2005) had more.

Of course, the Jaguars’ 18-game losing streak from last season illustrates that the squad’s struggles go beyond Lawrence’s growing pains. Jacksonville’s current skid is tied with the 1972-73 Houston Oilers for the fifth-longest in league history.

The Jaguars face a short week given the team’s visit against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengalson on Thursday. It will be the first regular-season televised game of Lawrence’s NFL career, which will make him think about how much his schedule has changed in the pros.

“Oh, my God, it’s completely different,” he said on Tuesday of planning for three days off this week.

“It’s like you don’t even know what day it is.” You try to do the same things you do in a normal week. You just have to be a lot more efficient with your time.

Lawrence, who is the first rookie with multiple interceptions in his first three games since Blake Bortles in 2014, remains confident in his progress as he continues to adjust to NFL heights and valleys.

“I haven’t played my best, but I know there is a lot of good football to come.”

Comparing Lawrence to Bortles, whose early games didn’t feature so many positive moments, is probably a little unfair. But with seven interceptions in three games, that’s the kind of company Lawrence is keeping right now.

Things will almost certainly improve in Jacksonville on offense, and Lawrence is showing signs of progress week by week. But while this team still has many flaws, Lawrence’s play is currently one of the most egregious.

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