Free agent signee and backup quarterback Nick Mullens has provided the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence with a lot of help over the last months, given his familiarity with Liam Coen’s offensive system.
Before joining the Jaguars, Mullens had spent his previous three seasons in Minnesota under Kevin O’Connell. Like Coen, O’Connell is a former Rams‘ offensive coordinator and comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree. So there is a lot of overlap in the two offenses.
“Nick, he’s been in the system, he’s really smart, he’s played a lot of football,” Lawrence said. “So definitely can take a lot of things that he says nad he does and learn from it, for sure. Like I said, he’s really smart, plays with a lot of anticipation. Reading coverages, he’s on time, his feet are always synced up. So it was something I watched early on, just his footwork, because it is the same system pretty much that he was in.”
One of the changes that Lawrence has made this offseason is with his footwork. In Coen’s offense, the quarterback’s feet and how they move in the pocket are tied to his progressions and reads. Mullens’ experience in the system has been particularly helpful in that regard.
As Lawrence also mentions, Mullens’ having NFL experience has been beneficial as well. Having been in the NFL since 2017, Mullens has appeared in 33 games and made 20 starts.
The Jaguars signed Mullens in free agency to a two-year, $4.5 million deal. His experience in a similar offensive scheme was a factor in that decision, as Mullens’ presence provides added support for Lawrence.
“Hearing him when he first came in,” Lawrence added, “his confidence in how he feels about the system is like, ‘man, you’re going to love it, you can trust it, the progressions are great. Just keep trusting it, trust your feet, stay on time.’ Like all those things, and to hear him say that, and to see him do it, and he’s had to play a lot the past few years and played well, you can see that it’s real, especially coming from someone who’s done it.”
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: How Jaguars’ backup QB Nick Mullens has helped Trevor Lawrence