Wounds to four of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ five beginning hostile linemen almost persuaded mentor Urban Meyer to not play quarterback Trevor Lawrence in the preseason finale against Dallas on Sunday, yet the requirement for Lawrence and the primary group offense to get moving made him alter his perspective.

It ended up being the right choice.

Lawrence finished 11 of 12 passes for 139 yards and two scores in three drives with the first-group offense in quite a while’s 34-14 triumph at AT&T Stadium. Those were the solitary two scores the unit has scored in the preseason, and however it came against Cowboys’ reinforcements, it was simply precisely what Meyer needed to see.

“I made that decision [to play Lawrence] and there was a lot of angst about that but he has to play,” Meyer said.

Lawrence drove a 68-yard drive that he covered with a 18-yard score pass to Pharoh Cooper and incorporated a 38-yard toss to Phillip Dorsett on the sideline. The Jaguars’ subsequent drive finished on Lawrence’s just deficiency, yet he then, at that point drove a 67-yard drive that finished with a 4-yard score pass to LaViska Shenault.

“I felt good,” Lawrence said. “I thought we had a decent strategy. Truly, everything’s with regards to execution, however. I think we had a decent blueprint last week as well. We simply didn’t execute it. … It doesn’t make any difference what you run, in case everyone’s in total agreement and everyone knows it, you will play well.

“We felt that today. We were all on the same page. We communicated well. We kept it simple, and then for me just being accurate, making quick decisions, getting the ball out of my hand, and letting our guys make plays, and that was the difference. Run game was great, too, so it was awesome.”

With left tackle Cam Robinson (lower leg), left gatekeeper Andrew Norwell (elbow), focus Brandon Linder (knee) and right watchman A.J. Cann (save/COVID-19 rundown) out for the game, right tackle Jawaan Taylor was the lone starter to play. The Jaguars began new kid on the block Walker Little at left tackle, second-year player Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms at left watchman, veteran reinforcement Tyler Shatley at focus, and fourth-year Will Richardson Jr. at right gatekeeper.

Robinson, Linder and Norwell are normal back for the Sept. 12 opener against Houston.

The Jaguars’ first-group offense had scored only three focuses in the initial two preseason games and Lawrence had finished 20 of 32 passes for 184 yards in the misfortunes to Cleveland and New Orleans. In the wake of naming Lawrence the starter for the season Wednesday, Meyer said he needed to see the offense “score some damn points.”

The Jaguars scored on their initial belonging and the first-group offense incorporated 159 yards in quite a while three drives. Hostile organizer Darrell Bevell blended in components of the spread offense that Lawrence played in at Clemson: some speedy tosses, bubble screens and rollouts.

“It’s a good feeling — a lot better feeling coming into the locker room today as opposed to this time last week,” Lawrence said. “Just one step in the right direction. Got to keep getting better. Now they’re going to count for real. Just putting everything we have into getting ready for Houston. Built a lot of confidence going into the season. It’s nice to finish the preseason with a game like that.”

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