Two-time Super Bowl champ rips Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence over firing of Doug Pederson

Few were surprised to learn on Monday that Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan had fired head coach Doug Pederson after the club completed a second-straight disappointing season with Pederson. 

During Monday's edition of FS1's "The Facility" program, former NFL running back and two-time Super Bowl champion LeSean McCoy seemed to blame Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence for the fact that Pederson lost his job. 

"You bring him in there, he helps Trevor Lawrence out, but how much can you help a guy that’s not that good? And then you pay these quarterbacks, give them all this money, and when they don’t do well because they’re not that good of a player, and now you gotta blame somebody. Who do you blame? Let’s blame the head coach," McCoy said, as shared by Sam Neumann of Awful Announcing. "But you’re going to blame a winning head coach that’s been winning his whole life. It don’t make sense." 

Pederson guided the 2022 Jaguars to a playoff berth and a postseason win, and he then had Jacksonville at 8-3 heading into December 2023. However, the 2023 Jaguars ultimately lost five of six games to miss the playoffs, and the club went 5-18 over its last 23 games under Pederson. 

As for Lawrence, he noticeably regressed after he signed a five-year contract extension worth up to $275M last offseason. He was then shut down in early December so he could undergo shoulder surgery.

According to Pro Football Reference, Lawrence ended the 2024 regular season ranked 17th in the NFL among qualified players with a 59.2 adjusted QBR, 28th with an 85.2 passer rating and 37th with a 60.6% completion percentage for the campaign. He tossed 11 touchdown passes and seven interceptions over 10 games. 

"The league is confused right now," McCoy added. "All you want to do is get a quarterback because he plays the position — he’s up for his contract — and wherever he’s drafted high at, 'We gotta keep him.' And now, the result of that is look at Doug Pederson getting fired. Doug Pederson is a really, really good coach. He’s a winning coach." 

Regardless of what anybody thinks of McCoy's takes, it's worth noting that some said last spring that the Jaguars shouldn't give Lawrence a massive extension he hadn't necessarily earned with his play across his first three NFL seasons. Whoever is hired to replace Pederson will be tasked with getting the most out of Lawrence as soon as possible, but there remain more questions than answers regarding how much the 25-year-old can improve at the highest level.