JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It had been nine months since Trevor Lawrence played more than two drives in an NFL game, and the Jacksonville Jaguars' quarterback was a little rusty.
But what Lawrence was happier about than playing in a regular-season game for the first time since Dec. 1 was the fact that he walked out of EverBank Stadium with a victory for the first time since Oct. 6.
"It's been a while," Lawrence said after the 26-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers. "It felt great. It's fun being back out there.
"Fun to get a win. That was awesome."
It wasn't Lawrence's best game but considering the layoff, playing for his third head coach and another offensive system, and it being the first game since he overhauled his footwork, it was a solid day for the 2021 No. 1 overall pick.
"I thought he had great communication," coach Liam Coen said. "We were in and out of the huddle. Had the one delay [penalty], but that was really a communication fault of us as coaches. I thought he handled things well. I thought he had not a great third quarter, to be honest. You know, we need to be more accurate and complete some of those balls when we have people open, but I thought overall, for his first start in a new system, he handled it really well.
"He got us in and out of plays. He had to [change] a lot of plays, and he did it effectively and efficiently. I was proud of his leadership."
Coen said last week that one of the things he was curious about was how Lawrence would handle operating in what he called "the gray." In other words, how would Lawrence react when the protection broke down, his receivers were covered, or he was confused by the coverage?
The answer: pretty well. Lawrence had four scrambles for 12 yards, two of which resulted in first downs -- including a 4-yard run on third-and-3 from the Carolina 14-yard line to extend a drive that ended with his TD pass to tight end Hunter Long.
The scrambles are notable because his 2024 season ended on a scramble after a questionable hit by Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair last December.
"Not really something I thought about, to be honest," Lawrence said. "I think just using your legs is a weapon in this league, and you see the way the league is, especially now. It's what you have to do. Defenses are good. They're covering people up. It's got to happen sometimes, and they don't have that extra defender for the quarterback. Just finding a way to use my legs and be able to keep the drives alive."
Lawrence finished 19-for-31 for 178 yards and a touchdown with one interception, which came on a deep throw to Travis Hunter. He also air-mailed a ball to a wide-open Brian Thomas Jr. and was penalized for intentional grounding on another throw.
The Jaguars' offense rolled up 378 yards, including 200 on the ground (137 by Travis Etienne Jr.), the most rushing yards since they ran for 243 against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6 in 2022.
The next test comes next week at the Cincinnati Bengals against QB Joe Burrow and receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
"There's a lot to clean up," Lawrence said. "I think operationally wasn't terrible, but some of the penalties obviously we have to clean up. I thought a couple of times we're getting to the line a little slow and getting a little bit behind the play clock. ... That starts with me just getting the call in quick and getting the guys at the line of scrimmage and ... having that sense of urgency.
"Just too many penalties in general, but hey, found a way to get a win. Found the end zone a couple of times and were able to score points, and our defense played great and [the offense] ran the ball great. Did a lot of good things today, and we won, most importantly."