'In the mix': Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence talks MNF, chasing AFC crown down the stretch

Trevor Lawrence admits he had no clue about the "DUUUVAL" chant when he first arrived in Jacksonville.

But now, as the Jacksonville Jaguars prepare to host their first Monday Night Football game in more than a decade against the Cincinnati Bengals, the third-year quarterback appreciates the endearing nature of the callout.

“It’s something that kind of brings everyone together, [something] that everyone does,” he said during his Wednesday media availability. “It's part of the city, part of the culture.”

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That chant will be ringing out Monday and as the Jaguars compete down the stretch for playoff seeding. It’s something Lawrence feels the 8-3 team has positioned itself well to do.

“If you want to talk about the No. 1 seed or whatever that is, we’ve put ourselves in a situation where that’s obtainable,” he said. “We’re right there in the mix.”

The Jaguars are coming off a win against the Houston Texans where they gained a two-game lead in the AFC South. For a short time Sunday after their 1 p.m. start, they sat atop the AFC standings. After the dust settled from the later games, the Jaguars were No. 3 in the conference standings.

Still, Jacksonville is in prime position to compete for the top seed with six games to go — including a Sunday night matchup in two weeks with current No. 1 seed Baltimore — and Lawrence understands the importance of wins at this point of the year.

“It’s about setting yourself up for the postseason and so on,” Lawrence said. “We understand that every game does matter, it really does, especially at the end of the season when everyone is fighting, scratching and clawing for these wins. We know the sense of urgency.”

'Can't look at the big picture': Lawrence, Jaguars' offense refocused after 49ers loss

In their last two outings, the Jaguars haven’t resembled the team that got its doors blown off in Week 10 against the San Francisco 49ers. The same squad that only mustered three points in a home defeat have outscored division rivals 58-35 in the last two weeks.

According to Lawrence, the team used the San Francisco loss to refocus.

“I think in this league, you’ve got to use games like that to make you better,” he said. “It can go one of two ways. It can make you better or you can kind of crumble from it.”

In the last two weeks, Lawrence has completed 67.1 percent of his passes while passing for 626 yards with three touchdowns in the air and three more touchdowns on the ground.

He landed AFC Player of the Week honors for his efforts during the Tennessee game.

While the team has bounced back well from the loss and is in good position to continue its playoff push, Lawrence acknowledged the Jaguars have to take it one game at a time as they compete down the stretch.

“You can’t look at the big picture yet, you’ve got to take it one week at a time,” he said. “I think that helped us refocus a little bit and I know offensively, that was probably our worst performance of the year. We’ve used that and I think we’ve gotten a lot better the last couple of weeks. ... I think it definitely made us better and it’s going to help us down the stretch.”

Juston Lewis is a sports reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on the website formerly known as Twitter at @JustonLewis_.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence ready for ESPN Monday night football