JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Trevor Lawrence has no excuses for his season-opening performance.
Unlike many other NFL starting quarterbacks, Lawrence played plenty in the preseason. And he looked sharp along the way, leading the Jacksonville Jaguars to three touchdowns in four exhibition drives.
He was supposedly ready. It didn't show against Miami.
Lawrence completed 12 of 21 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown in a 20-17 loss at the Dolphins on Sunday. His dozen completions were the second fewest in his professional career, and he was particularly pedestrian in the second half.
Lawrence was 3 for 7 passing for 37 yards in the final two quarters as the Jaguars failed to score and squandered a 10-point lead at the break. They came up short on all five third down conversion attempts.
“Our lack of execution offensively, it wasn’t just one person,” coach Doug Pederson said. “It really comes down to our third down conversions in this football game and not staying on the field."
The game turned on running back Travis Etienne’s fumble near the goal line late in the third quarter. Instead of extending their lead to 24-7, the Jaguars got burned by Tyreek Hill for an 80-yard score on the ensuing play and found themselves in a three-point game and with no momentum.
That’s when Lawrence was supposed to step up, take over or be the difference-maker. After all, he signed a five-year, $275 million contract extension in June that included $142 million guaranteed.
Instead, Lawrence sailed a pass over Christian Kirk’s head on one third down and was sacked on consecutive plays the following drive. The first sack was a head-scratcher because Lawrence had receivers open on second-and-10 and held the ball too long.
“I don’t have all the answers right now,” Lawrence said. “But I definitely know that we had our opportunities, and we really just didn’t take advantage of them.”
Jacksonville’s run defense was a bright spot. The Jaguars allowed 81 yards on 25 carries, with 20 of those yards coming on consecutive runs by fresh-legged backup Jeff Wilson in the fourth.
The return of defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton, the progression of third-year pro Travon Walker and the addition of veteran Arik Armstead appears to have made the Jaguars even more stout up front alongside Pro Bowler Josh Hines-Allen.
Jacksonville ranked ninth in the league against the run in 2023.
General manager Trent Baalke spent considerable resources in hopes of improving the offense’s short-yardage woes from last season. He signed two offensive linemen in free agency and was counting on 2023 third-round pick Tank Bigsby to make a jump in Year 2.
But the Jaguars showed marginal improvement against the Dolphins.
The most glaring shortcomings came on consecutive plays spanning the third and fourth quarters. Right guard Brandon Scherff got bend backward as Bigsby was stopped for no gain on third-and-1 from their 32. And then coming out of a TV timeout, Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor strangely dialed up an outside run on fourth down.
Left tackle Cam Robinson whiffed on his block, and Etienne ended up losing 2 yards.
Bigsby ran for 73 yards on 12 carries — both career highs — and nearly broke what would have been a 97-yard scamper in the third. It was the kind of performance the Jaguars expected when they drafted him out of Auburn last year.
But the rookie fumbled twice in his first 24 touches and tipped a pass that resulted in an interception in the 2023 season opener. Coaches seemingly lost faith from there, and Bigsby had to earn it back.
Right tackle Anton Harrison, a second-year pro who was stout as a rookie, struggled mightily against the Dolphins. He allowed two sacks, was penalized once and ended up being the team's lowest-graded lineman, according to Pro Football Focus.
It was one of the more surprising developments from the season opener. Harrison is considered the team’s starting left tackle beginning in 2025.
CB Tyson Campbell, who was sidelined six games last season, will “miss some time” after injuring his left hamstring in the fourth quarter, Pederson said. Pederson added that Campbell will be week to week.
6 — number of losses to former Houston QB Deshaun Watson, who will start for Cleveland on Sunday. Watson went 6-0 as a starter against Jacksonville during his time in Houston.
The Jaguars need more offensive consistency, and maybe it starts with less secrecy regarding whether Pederson or Taylor is calling plays.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence gestures during a post game NFL football news conference, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Dolphins defeated the Jaguars 20-17. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland (8) grabs Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) as he fumbles the ball during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson looks up a the scoreboard during the second half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Dolphins defeated the Jaguars 20-17. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) takes a break during the second half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The price of bitcoin surged to over $109,000 early Monday, just hours ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, as a pumped up cryptocurrency industry bets he'll take action soon after returning to the White House.
Once a skeptic who said a few years ago that bitcoin “ seems like a scam,” Trump has embraced digital currencies with a convert’s zeal. He's launched a new cryptocurrency venture and vowed on the campaign trail to take steps early in his presidency to make the U.S. into the “crypto capital” of the world.
His promises including creating a U.S. crypto stockpile, enacting industry-friendly regulation and event appointing a crypto “czar” for his administration.
“You’re going to be very happy with me,” Trump told crypto-enthusiasts at a bitcoin conference last summer.
Bitcoin is the world’s most popular cryptocurrency and was created in 2009 as a kind of electronic cash uncontrolled by banks or governments. It and newer forms of cryptocurrencies have moved from the financial fringes to the mainstream in wild fits and starts.
The highly volatile nature of cryptocurrencies as well as their use by criminals, scammers and rogue nations, has attracted plenty of critics, who say the digital currencies have limited utility and often are just Ponzi schemes.
But crypto has so far defied naysayers and survived multiple prolonged price drops in its short lifespan. Wealthy players in the crypto industry, which felt unfairly targeted by the Biden administration, spent heavily to help Trump win November’s election. Bitcoin has surged in price since Trump's victory, topping $100,000 for the first time last month before briefly sliding down to about $90,000. On Friday, it rose about 5%. It jumped more than $9,000 early Monday, according to CoinDesk.
Two years ago, bitcoin was trading at about $20,000.
Trump’s picks for key cabinet and regulatory positions are stocked with crypto supporters, including his choice to lead the Treasury and Commerce departments and the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Key industry players held a first ever "Crypto Ball” on Friday to celebrate the first “crypto president." The event was sold out, with tickets costing several thousand dollars.
Here’s a look at some detailed action Trump might take in the early days of his administration:
As a candidate Trump promised that he would create a special advisory council to provide guidance on creating “clear” and “straightforward” regulations on crypto within the first 100 days of his presidency.
Details about the council and its membership are still unclear, but after winning November’s election, Trump named tech executive and venture capitalist David Sacks to be the administration’s crypto “czar.” Trump also announced in late December that former North Carolina congressional candidate Bo Hines will be the executive director of the “Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets.”
At last year’s bitcoin conference, Trump told crypto supporters that new regulations “will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry.” Trump's pick to lead the SEC, Paul Atkins, has been a strong advocate for cryptocurrencies.
Crypto investors and companies chafed as what they said was a hostile Biden administration that went overboard in unfair enforcement actions and accounting policies that have stifled innovation in the industry — particularly at the hands of outgoing SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.
“As far as general expectations from the Trump Administration, I think one of the best things to bet on is a tone change at the SEC,” said Peter Van Valkenburgh, the executive director of the advocacy group Coin Center.
Gensler, who is set to leave as Trump takes office, said in a recent interview with Bloomberg that he’s proud of his office’s actions to police the crypto industry, which he said is “rife with bad actors.”
Trump also promised that as president he’ll ensure the U.S. government stockpiles bitcoin, much like it already does with gold. At the bitcoin conference earlier this summer, Trump said it the U.S. government would keep, rather than auction off, the billions of dollars in bitcoin it has seized through law enforcement actions.
Crypto advocates have posted a draft executive order online that would establish a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” as a “permanent national asset” to be administered by the Treasury Department through its Exchange Stabilization Fund. The draft order calls for the Treasury Department to eventually hold at least $21 billion in bitcoin.
Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming has proposed legislation mandating the U.S. government stockpile bitcoin, which advocates said would help diversify government holdings and hedge against financial risks. Critics say bitcoin’s volatility make it a poor choice as a reserve asset.
Creating such a stockpile would also be a “giant step in the direction of bitcoin becoming normalized, becoming legitimatized in the eyes of people who don’t yet see it as legitimate,” said Zack Shapiro, an attorney who is head of policy at the Bitcoin Policy Institute.
At the bitcoin conference earlier this year, Trump received loud cheers when he reiterated a promise to commute the life sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the convicted founder of the drug-selling website Silk Road that used crypto for payments.
Ulbricht’s case has energized some crypto advocates and Libertarian activists, who believe government investigators overreached in building their case against Silk Road.
FILE - Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference July 27, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)