JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson turned away from the question, stopping just short of shaking his head in disappointment, then tapped the lectern in front of him three times to mimic knocking on wood.
"Nah, la, la, next question," Peterson quipped, refusing to acknowledge or weigh in on Trevor Lawrence's special winning streak that is nearly a decade old.
Lawrence improved to 37-0 as a starting quarterback on Saturdays when the Jaguars rallied from 27 points down to stun the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30 in an AFC wild-card playoff game last weekend. Lawrence's perfect run spans high school, college and the past two Saturday nights in Jacksonville.
He can make it 38 in a row when the Jaguars (10-8) visit the Kansas City Chiefs (14-3) in the divisional round Saturday. The Chiefs are listed as 8 1/2-point favorite by FanDuel Sportsbook.
"I take a lot of pride in it cause we play on a Saturday again," Lawrence said. "It is what it is. I don't really think about that. I think about we've got to win this game to keep going, to keep playing, to keep our season alive. So that's what I think about.
"Trying to go 38-0, if you want to put it that way. But about that streak or whatever, just honestly kind of a coincidence that I've had Saturday games on all three levels. But, yeah, let's keep that going. That means we're playing again next week. That's the plan."
Lawrence has no recollection of his most recent Saturday loss. He mentioned possibly a championship game in middle school before quickly following up with "but I think we won that."
"I'm sure I've lost on a Saturday at some point," he added.
Not one that Lawrence can remember, though.
His streak started as a sophomore at Georgia's Cartersville High School, about an hour's drive northwest of Atlanta. He went 3-0 on Saturdays with the Purple Hurricanes, winning GHSA Class AAAA state title games in 2015 and 2016 and, as a senior in 2017, a regular-season game against Florida's Bartram Trail in St. John's County, just south of Jacksonville.
The streak remained intact throughout Lawrence's three years at Clemson, perhaps the most impressive part of 37 in a row. He led the Tigers to the national championship as a freshman and went 34-2 as their starter, including 32-0 on Saturdays, before being selected by the Jaguars with the No. 1 pick of the 2021 NFL draft.
His two collegiate losses were to LSU in the 2019 season's national championship game and to Ohio State in a College Football Playoff semifinal the following season. Both of those games were in New Orleans; neither was played on a Saturday.
His unique streak was back in the spotlight the past two weeks. The Jaguars beat the Tennessee Titans in their regular-season finale on Jan. 7 to clinch the AFC South title, dethroning the two-time reigning division champions and returning the franchise to the playoffs for the first time in five years. His most memorable Saturday victory came against the Chargers, a game in which Lawrence followed four interceptions with four touchdown passes and led the third-largest comeback in NFL postseason history.
Lawrence, nearly a dozen teammates and their wives or girlfriends celebrated with a late-night visit to Waffle House. The quarterback's wife, Marissa, called ahead to get enough tables set aside.
"Maybe the first reservation at Waffle House?" Lawrence said.
Another Saturday victory — Lawrence's 38th straight — would require a much bigger party once the Jaguars return from Kansas City.
"It's definitely impressive," receiver Marvin Jones said of the streak. "Let's keep it going and let's keep playing on Saturdays."