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Jaguars Trevor Lawrence Addresses Brian Thomas Jr. Issue Amid 'Super Frustrating' Slump
Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

After a breakout rookie season in which he tallied 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Jaguars, the first two games of 2025 have not exactly gone well for Brian Thomas Jr. In Week 1, he rated a Pro Football Focus grade of just 50.1, which rated 100th out of 103 receivers. Week 2, in which he dropped a pass for the second straight week and made only four catches on 12 targets, was not much better.

Thomas, it seems, is in a sophomore slump, and his confidence appears to be running short. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence, seeing the overall numbers--five catches in two games for 60 yards and no scores--says he needs to do more to help his star.

"I never want to speak for a guy and his confidence and where he is at. Me and BT have a good relationship, we do communicate," Lawrence said. "That’s just something where, I gotta be better for him and vice-versa. We gotta help each other out. There’s a couple plays today where I could give him a chance down the field and I didn’t and there’s a couple plays that he could make, too.

"He’d tell you the same thing. We’re all in it together. It’s a team sport. That’s the beautiful thing."

Brian Thomas Jr. Has Just 5 Catches for Jaguars

The Jaguars are 1-1 and it is relatively remarkable that they've been able to score 53 points in two weeks--including 27 in a Week 2 loss to the Bengals, a game they probably should have won--despite a wide-receivers room that has gone sideways.

Rookie Travis Hunter leads the team with nine catches, for just 55 yards. Dyami Brown is next with eight catches for 109 yards. Fourth-stringer Parker Washington is tied with Thomas with five catches.

Thomas' season can be summed up in a fourth-and-5 play from the Bengals' 7-yard line, with the Jaguars leading 27-24 in the fourth quarter. Lawrence hit Thomas at about the 2-yard line, but Thomas dropped it. He also had a pass go off his hands in the end zone and generally looked afraid to take contact.

“It’s super frustrating,” Thomas said. “Just got to put it behind you and go onto the next week.”

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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