Trevor Lawrence has been called a franchise quarterback since before he even had the opportunity to attempt to be one.
Over the past month or so, he's looked every bit of it.
Lawrence's late-game heroics against the Ravens on Nov. 27 and the comeback win over the Raiders on Nov. 6 stand out as just two examples.
"He's getting to the point where, the guys can see, he wants the ball in his hands," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson told NFL.com this week. "He wants to be able to put the team on his back in those moments. He wants to lead the team that way. That's what's encouraging to me. That he's growing into it."
As Jacksonville is set to take on the Cowboys today, it does so with one of the hottest QBs in the NFL. The Jaguars are still playing games that mean something in December -- which was their goal -- and Lawrence is a big reason why.
"We're here," Pederson said. "Got-to-have-it games. This is all part of building a winning culture."
Lawrence simply has been one of then NFL's best QBs since Week 9. He has 10 TD passes against zero INTs since that time, the league's best ratio. He has 192 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, the longest current streak. Plus, he's got five straight games with 30-plus pass attempts and no picks.
Since Week 9, he's first in the league in completion percentage and second in passer rating (111.7). It has all been special.
As for why, Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor see a growth and development in the system, along with a QB getting familiar with his surroundings. The goal was to put practice-happy players around Lawrence -- Zay Jones, Christian Kirk, Evan Engram to name a few -- and just get reps. Lots and lots of reps.
It's all starting to pay off. They didn't overload Lawrence with material, just kept repping, working and focusing on their core tenets. And the team started to notice, with more confidence came more deep shots and more smart chances. With more success came more emotion. It appeared Lawrence was in complete control.
Down 17-0 to the Raiders, Lawrence helped lead them back.
"The team could've slipped and went into the tank," Pederson said. "But we stuck with the plan and he managed to lead the team back."
Against Baltimore, he led the team back from 19-10 down. His TD pass to Josh Oliver and then 10-yarder to Marvin Jones (with a Zay Jones two-point conversion) won it.
"He's beginning to understand, he's got it, he's putting the team on his back," Pederson said. "Now, we just got to keep him headed in the right direction."
Follow Ian Rapoport on Twitter.
