NFL London: Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa renew rivalry as Jaguars face Dolphins

The NFL London game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins has been a hotly anticipated matchup, with the two young quarterbacks renewing their rivalry.

The trevor lawrence jaguars is an upcoming game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins. Trevor Lawrence will be making his first start for the Jags, while Tua Tagovailoa will be playing in his second game of the season.

Tua Tagovailoa’s comments would come back to haunt him, you just knew it.

The Miami Dolphins picked the quarterback with the fifth overall selection in the 2020 draft and handed him the starting position seven weeks into his rookie season.

“I anticipated it to be a lot tougher,” he said of adapting to the NFL after winning his first three games as a starter.

He was benched in the following game and hasn’t played well since, winning just half of his games. Osi Umenyiora, a pundit, isn’t the only one who isn’t “100 percent sold on him as the long-term solution for that offence” after eleven months.

Now it’s his old college opponent Trevor Lawrence, the first overall selection in this year’s draft, who is discovering how difficult the NFL adjustment is.

This weekend, the Miami Dolphins and the winless Jacksonville Jaguars will meet in London, where their young quarterbacks will compete for a much-needed victory.

Are the Jaguars able to move forward from the repercussions from Meyer’s videos?

Jacksonville had the poorest record in the NFL last season, but having the first choice in a draft with the greatest ‘can’t-miss’ talent in a decade persuaded renowned college coach Urban Meyer to accept his first NFL job at the age of 57.

But it’s been a difficult start. Jacksonville and the Detroit Lions are the only clubs yet to win this season after five games. The Jaguars haven’t won since their 2020 season opening and are coming off a 20-game losing skid, the second-longest in Super Bowl history.

Even Jacksonville’s James Robinson, who set a career best with 149 yards rushing last week, is taken aback. “I’m not sure how I feel about it,” the running back remarked. “We have to figure out a means to win.”

Videos of Meyer, a grandpa who has been married for 35 years, partying with a young lady made their job much more difficult.

Meyer was forced to apologize both publicly and privatelyexternal-link before the Jaguars’ 37-19 defeat to the Tennessee Titans last week, while Jaguars owner Shahid Khan called Meyer’s behavior “inexcusable,” adding, “Now he must earn our confidence and respect.”

“It’s all about those discussions with your coaches and the trust in a locker room,” says commentator Jason Bell.

“Meyer was always a terrific communicator in college, and now he has to re-establish himself as their leader through communicating with his squad.” He creates organizations, and he hopes to do likewise in Jacksonville, but it will take time.

“This year, it’s all about looking at Trevor Lawrence, figuring out what he does well, and then constructing the offense around that in the coming years. It’s all about progress, which is why it’s fascinating to see them and see how they continue to improve.”

Will Lawrence be able to create history in London?

Lawrence was well aware that he was joining a losing team. However, after only five games with Jacksonville, he’s now lost more games in the NFL than he did in high school and college, when he went 86-4.

Only fellow rookie Zach Wilson has thrown more interceptions than Lawrence, whose New York Jets lost last week’s game in London.

Lawrence, who is just 22, has not retreated into his shell. In the past two games, he’s thrown for six touchdowns, averaging 229 passing yards per game, and scored a running touchdown.

Lawrence now faces a Miami defense that allowed five touchdown passes in their 1-4 loss last week, and in the 30th regular-season game to be played in London, he has a chance to become the first rookie quarterback to win there – Wilson was the fifth to attempt and fail.

“I’ve seen a guy take chances because he has to,” Bell adds, “but he still throws the ball every week, he’s not gun shy.”

“Every week, he appears to become a little better at making decisions.” This was the first thing we heard about Patrick Mahomes during practice. Every day, he threw a slew of interceptions.

“However, in the NFL, you must learn to throw the ball.” It’s difficult since the windows are smaller, but I appreciate the fact that he tries to do it every week. And he’s very athletic for a man of his stature. He has the ability to flee.

“So I believe he’s still finding things out. They’re going to create a squad around him, and I’m excited about his prospects. Without a question, if the selection could be redone, I’d choose him first again.”

Isn’t it time for Tagovailoa to prove he belongs in Miami?

In the 2018 college football national championship game, Tagovailoa came in for an injured Jalen Hurts (now the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles), and his third touchdown throw handed Alabama an overtime victory against Georgia.

If it hadn’t been for a terrible hip injury that ended his collegiate career early, Tagovailoa would have been the first selection in 2020 instead of Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals.

In January 2018, the left-handed quarterback from Hawaii came to fame after coming off the bench to lead Alabama to victory in the national championship game of college football. They were defeated by Burrow’s Louisiana State University in 2020, a year after losing to Lawrence’s Clemson.

Concerns about Tagovailoa’s durability linger after he lost a week last year with a thumb injury and the final three weeks with fractured ribs, and despite a strong start, he was overshadowed by fellow rookies Burrow and Justin Herbert in 2020.

Miami relied on a low-risk passing strategy to get them close to the playoffs. Tagovailoa has a fast release and has a habit of checking down before looking down the field for a long pass.

Now that he’s recovered from his injury and the Dolphins have selected wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, one of his favorite targets at Alabama, maybe now is the time for the 23-year-old to prove he can be Miami’s franchise quarterback.

“I’d want Tua to be the man,” Bell adds. “They designed the offense around his distribution talent, but I’m not convinced they’re using Jaylen Waddle to his full potential. I believe they will be able to find out who and what they are in the following quarter of the season.”

Umenyiora continues: “They haven’t performed as well on defense as they had hoped after last season, but they have a great head coach [Brian Flores] and excellent owners. This squad is just going to grow better, in my opinion. All we need to do now is give Tua more time to evaluate whether he’s the perfect fit for Miami’s future.”

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