Longtime NFL center Mitch Morse only suited up with Trevor Lawrence for one season in 2024.

However, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ franchise quarterback made quite the impression on Morse during their lone year together in Jacksonville.

Morse — who signed a two-year deal with the Jaguars in March 2024 before announcing his retirement last month following 10 seasons in the NFL – recently joined former Buffalo Bills center Eric Wood on the Centered on Buffalo Podcast.

Morse was asked about his experience working with Lawrence last year, in regard to his leadership and the criticism he has taken from people outside the building over the last couple of years. Of course, Lawrence was labeled as a “generational prospect” coming out of Clemson, but has struggled with inconsistent play, turnovers and injuries in his young NFL career to this point.

Morse, a 2022 Pro Bowler, spoke glowingly about Lawrence and had nothing but praise for the 2021 No. 1 overall draft pick.

“My experience with Trevor was that he was a 40-year-old man in a 24-year-old man’s body,” Morse said. “You gotta think, this guy has been one of the most highly touted prospects since he was 16 or 17, so he’s had to carry himself like a professional way earlier than a lot of these guys have. Listen, I think the first thing you have to do is, as any leader in a football locker room, is you have to command the locker room with just your personality and your ability to maintain relationships. And Trevor does that just as good as anyone.”

Morse, who also played for the Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, likened Lawrence’s leadership qualities to those of star quarterbacks like the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Bills’ Josh Allen.

“In the locker room, he had the guts, he had the relationships that you need,” Morse said of Lawrence. “He has that competitiveness, but it manifests itself in different ways. Like, you can see it – it’s palpable in Josh or it’s palpable in Pat, or my first quarterback was Alex [Smith]. He steps in a huddle. He’s a maniac, and it’s something you didn’t see. Trevor has that poise that is so important to have at that quarterback position.”

Morse added that Lawrence has “that killer instinct,” even though it might not be seen, and he thinks the Jags’ new regime of head coach Liam Coen and general manager James Gladstone will “bring that out of” Lawrence.

“He has it,” Morse said. “He has all the tools. He’s a great dude. He’s an excellent quarterback. We all felt like he was our guy. And listen, dude, it’s everyone’s job to critique everyone, right. The opinions that matter – and this is what I told him – are in the locker room, and he’s got the guys. So, I think it’s going to be a great transition for him, very nurturing – not that the other regime wasn’t, but he’s going to have that voice, and he’s had it. He just needs to let it loose.”

The Jaguars signed Lawrence to a massive five-year, $275 million contract extension prior to the 2024 season, when Lawrence ended up completing 60.6 percent of his passes for 2,045 yards with 11 touchdown passes and seven interceptions over 10 games.

The 25-year-old was placed on injured reserve in early December of last year after his shoulder injury and concussion, and he underwent successful surgery on Dec. 17 to repair the AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. He will be limited this spring as he continues to recover from the surgery but is on track to be fully cleared by the time training camp rolls around.

Over his first four NFL seasons, Lawrence has completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 13,815 yards and 69 touchdowns with 46 interceptions in his 60 games.

Morse concluded his comments on Lawrence by calling him a “remarkable dude.”

“He really is. He’s a good person, and I think that’s going to correlate to the field,” Morse said. “He’s got a long career ahead of him. I told him, listen, dude, every player’s got these years – I mean, last year was such an anomaly in regards to he had that AC joint, he comes back, gets that nasty hip, and then he’s got so much else going on outside the field and not doing well. And I’ll tell you what, his poise was, bar none, one of the best I’ve ever seen. So, he’s got all the tools.”

–Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee-Imagn Images