Trevor Lawrence hasn't quite been Trevor Lawrence this season. After playing flawless football in Clemson's march to the 2018 national championship -- he completed 47-of-71 passes for 674 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions against Notre Dame and Alabama -- Lawrence, then a true freshman, looked like a perfect quarterback prospect.
Thus far into his sophomore campaign, Lawrence has shown that he's not perfect. His completion percentage is down, his touchdown frequency is down and his interceptions are up -- after throwing four picks in 397 passes in 2018, he's thrown five in 136 thus far this season.
It's led some in Tigerland to theorize that Lawrence is nursing an undisclosed injury. One unnamed reporter texted Dabo Swinney to ask if Lawrence had an MRI on his throwing shoulder, which set Dabo off on a rant a day later.
Here's the transcript, via 247Sports:
No, I’m not confirming any of that. And I don’t want anybody texting me anymore. I had a media guy text me the other night. You know, that’s private information. That’s private information. If I want anybody to know our medical stuff, I’ll tell you. We’ll put it on the injury report. But people texting me on my phone to ask me information that’s not public information that I wouldn’t put out unless it’s something that needed to be put out is bad business.
“There’s nothing wrong with Trevor. And I don’t like people trying to create drama. There’s no drama on this team. So what do people want to do? They want to create drama. It’s the most unbelievable thing. Ain’t nothing wrong with Trevor. Zero. Nothing. If we did an MRI, that ain’t nobody’s business. We do MRIs all the time. ALL the time. All the time. I mean a guy gets a bruise on his knee, we do an MRI. Guy bruises his elbow we do an MRI. It’s like we’ve got to find– it drives me crazy. There’s no drama on this team, so it’s like we’ve got to create some. ‘Oh, Trevor missed a throw. He must be hurt.’ No— he’s human. He’s human, alright.
“So here’s what I’m ‘confirming’: Trevor Lawrence is a great football player. And a great leader. And there ain’t nothing wrong with him. He had a bruise. He had a bruise. If there was something wrong with him, would we be running him on the goal line? I mean he’s run great. There ain’t nothing wrong with him. If he missed a throw, it’s because he missed a throw. Period. He’s not whatever– all these people need to relax. He’s a human. And he’s met every expectation. We are 5-0 and he’s done a great job.
“I’m not getting into medical information that I don’t put out there, especially that he gets a bruise in the Texas A&M game. There ain’t nothing wrong with him. Nothing. Zero. Had his best game at Syracuse. Played a great game up there. Ain’t nothing wrong with him. So all the drama– I’m hot about this because I got a text at home last night and I was pissed. Because it’s like, ‘Oh my God there’s some conspiracy going on.’ No! I tell y’all the truth. I try to be transparent and honest. If there’s something wrong, I would let people know. There’s nothing wrong with him! Nothing! Zero! So people need to get over themselves and quit creating drama when there is none. Zero! Drives me crazy. I’ve been mad about it since last night.
For those reading between the lines, it seems Lawrence did have an MRI at some point, given that Swinney confirmed Clemson does MRI for bruises on the regular and Lawrence suffered a bruised shoulder in the Texas A&M game.
Either way, Lawrence has played every relevant snap this season for Clemson, so it's kind of a moot point.
So, to recap: There's nothing wrong with Trevor Lawrence, and don't text Dabo about injuries.