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Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence stood at the podium with his left arm encased in a big, black sling, and talked about — among a handful of other things — the importance of staying healthy.
That’s his No. 1 priority in 2025, regardless of whomever owner Shad Khan picks as the Jaguars’ new head coach.
“Being the franchise quarterback, I have to be out there, I have to be on the field, and I have to be available,” Lawrence said Thursday. “That’s difficult for me to not be able to do that. And really the last two seasons, that’s been a struggle for me.
“… The main thing is I’ve just got to be healthy and whether that’s getting stronger this off season, limiting some of the hits when I’m out there … Just doing my part to stay out there and not taking unnecessary risks when I need to be healthy for the season for one play.”
Lawrence has missed eight games over the past two seasons and has dealt with six separate injuries — including two concussions in an 11-month span. He missed two games with a sprained AC joint in his left (non-throwing) shoulder, he suffered a concussion on a controversial hit in his first game back, and then he and the team decided to shut him down for the rest of the season so he could undergo surgery on the shoulder.
Lawrence dealt with ankle, knee and right shoulder injuries as well as a concussion in 2023, but he missed only one game. However, he didn’t practice fully for the final three weeks of the season. He also suffered a toe injury in 2022 but did not miss a game.
This was the first time Lawrence has spoken publicly since he suffered a concussion against Houston on Dec. 1 on a hit to the head by linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair. That’s the second concussion of his career — he also suffered one against Baltimore on Dec. 17, 2023 — but Lawrence said he’s not concerned about having two within a calendar year.
“I don’t know if worried is the right word moving forward,” said Lawrence, who added that Al-Shaair has not reached out to him since the hit. “I think it’s something that you definitely are aware of. I don’t want to have more of them. You want to limit them, but I think right now it’s not something I’m overly concerned about. I just want to be able to protect myself and obviously don’t want to continue that trend. That can definitely affect how long you play if you keep getting those.”
Despite suffering that many injuries in the past two seasons, Lawrence said he’s not worried about getting labeled as injury-prone.
“It doesn’t bother me,” he said. “I just want to stay healthy. What bothers me is not being out there. So I’m not really worried about any labels or tags or anything. I just want to be out there. I know I can impact the game and help us win games when I’m out there, and when I’m not, it’s tough.
“It’s not fun just sitting on the sideline and not being able to have an impact. So I want to be healthy, I want to be out there, but not necessarily worried about what other people think.”