Ryan Fitzpatrick: Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence 'needs more alpha in him'

Retired NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick isn't hiding his feelings about Jacksonville Jaguars signal-caller Trevor Lawrence this fall. 

"You know what, that's a tough one for me because I had such high expectations going into this year," Fitzpatrick said about Lawrence during an Amazon Prime Video media session, per John Shipley of Sports Illustrated's FanNation/Jaguar Report. "I think with (head coach) Doug Pederson with some of the stuff he's done in the past with Carson Wentz and guys he's been able to develop. He's got a great lens, obviously being a former quarterback out there on the field. I feel like Trevor, you know, he started out okay, but he's kind of regressed."

Shipley noted that Lawrence completed 69.37% of his passes for 772 yards with six touchdowns and one interception as the Jaguars began his second pro season at 2-1. Jacksonville has lost five straight games, though, and Lawrence connected on only 57.83% of his attempts for 1,068 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions, while losing four fumbles across those defeats. 

"It's just been for me disappointing this year as the season has progressed," Fitzpatrick added about the No. 1 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. "He needs more alpha in him, and I want to see more out of him and I just, you know, have failed to see that so far this year."

According to ESPN stats, Lawrence ranks 22nd among eligible quarterbacks with an 84.8 passer rating, 21st with a 46.0 total QBR, 27th with a 62.5% completion percentage, 11th with 1,840 passing yards and tied for 12th with 10 touchdown passes on the campaign. He's also thrown six interceptions. 

"And it's been tough to see because he's a guy that I'm rooting for, that I want to see do well. And it's not even just the when to be a gunslinger and when not," Fitzpatrick continued about Lawrence. "Just you know, as a quarterback, you can't miss easy throws. If you have layups in this league, you can't miss them. And I think there are too many of those that he's missing right now."

2-6 Jacksonville hosts the 2-5 Las Vegas Raiders this coming Sunday.