JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawernce said Wednesday he still respects and believes in head coach Urban Meyer after a pair of viral videos of Meyer in a bar in Ohio showed him in a compromising situation with a woman who was not his wife.
“I can speak for myself, for sure, I know most of the team feels this way, he’s still my head coach, I still respect him, regardless of what happens,” Lawrence said. “We’re a team and we’re figuring it out.”
The No. 1 overall pick in 2021 added that he thinks Meyer has handled the situation well up until this point.
“Obviously, it’s not an easy situation, and you don’t want to be in this situation, but I think he’s done right by us, and it was a good meeting this morning,” Lawrence said of a Wednesday meeting where Meyer apologized to the entire team. “We’re sticking together. You know, just because something happens that puts a little stress on it, that doesn’t mean you just give up and go your separate ways, like, you figure it out and work through it, so that’s what we’re doing.”
Wednesday afternoon was the first time players faced the media since the videos of Meyer began to surface on Saturday and elicited strong reactions across the spectrum.
Lawrence and defensive end Josh Allen, both team captains, both said Wednesday the team has the back of their head coach.
“He’s a great coach, he’s a great man and he’s going to bounce back. We’re all going to bounce back,” Allen said.
Meyer faced another tough day of questions Wednesday, repeating how he was determined to not let a “stupid mistake” define his time with Jacksonville and promising to earn the trust and respect of the team back.
The news conferences on Wednesday comes after reports suggested Meyer’s handling of the scandal was not going over well with players and management.
Sports Illustrated reporter Michael Silver tweeted Tuesday morning that the situation has “reached a crisis point, especially in the locker room.”
“He has zero credibility in that stadium. He had very little to begin with,” one unnamed Jaguars player said, according to Silver.
According to Silver’s reporting, players didn’t like that Meyer canceled Monday’s team meeting as he dealt with the fallout from the video. In an apology to players, Meyer reportedly portrayed the woman in the videos as a random person who was just there dancing, the player said, but the players were skeptical.
Owner Shad Khan called Meyer’s actions in the videos “inexcusable” but vowed Tuesday to stick by the first-year coach.
Meyer also took criticism for mentioning Lawrence and his Las Vegas bachelor party during his Monday apology, but Lawrence said he didn’t take offense.
Urban Meyer invoking Trevor Lawrence wanting to go to Vegas for his bachelor party is an all-time moment here. Did he really just try to draw a similarity between the two?! https://t.co/bnlEgBuxWS
— The Chirp (@TheChirpSports) October 4, 2021
“I think his intentions were to say, you know, he always encouraged his players to be smart and, you know, handle things a certain way, which I did on that trip, you know, everything was smooth,” Lawrence said. “So I don’t have any reason to feel any type of way from my, on my side, so it’s all good.”
Both Allen and Lawrence said they are ready to move on from the distractions of the last few days and focus on the division-leading Tennessee Titans who come to Jacksonville for a 1 p.m. game on Sunday. The Jaguars have lost 19-straight dating back to last season and are currently 0-4.
“I feel like at this point we’ve all addressed everything,” Lawrence said toward the end of the news conference. “Everyone knows the situation, the details. It is what it is. Like I said, I’m still gonna respect him. He’s our coach, still believe in him, this team does and we’re moving on to playing the Titans.”
