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How Liam Coen is digging into the details to take Jacksonville Jaguars to the next level
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- How Liam Coen is digging into the details to take Jacksonville Jaguars to the next level
This is the first of two parts of an interview with Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen
As soon as the Jaguars' schedule was released last spring , the four-game stretch in late September/early October jumped off the page … and not in a good way.
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The San Francisco 49ers , in the Super Bowl after the 2023 season. The three-time reigning AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs (two Super Bowl wins). The Seattle Seahawks ' imposing defensive front. And the Los Angeles Rams ' dynamic offense.
Could the Jaguars and first-year coach Liam Coen survive the gauntlet to enter their Week 8 bye with legitimate playoff optimism? Yes.
The Jaguars went 2-2 during the stretch and are 4-3; if the playoffs started today, they would be the AFC's seventh seed and play at the second-seeded New England Patriots .
"If you were to say when I got the job that we would be 4-3, I don't think I would be too ticked off," Coen said during our conversation in his office on Tuesday, Oct. 21.
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The Jaguars have already matched last year's win total, but losing to the Seahawks (20-12) and getting routed by the Rams (35-7) presented Coen with a "Yeah, but …" caveat.
"We are (ticked off) because of the way we've lost a few games — it frustrates you because you've left some meat on the bone," Coen said. "The conversation we had as a team (Tuesday) was, 'Guys, if anything, we should be encouraged right now. Man, what will it look like if we cut our mistakes at least in half and still go play with physicality and violence? What will that look like?'
"We still haven't quite done that for four quarters."
Before excusing the players for five days off, Coen presented a 70-play video package during a lengthy team meeting. It was his only chance to put a bow on the first seven games.
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Up from his chair and clicker in hand, Coen put some of the main talking points (and plays) on one of the two big screens. The presentation to the players was divided into three sections.
Section 1: 'It's On Us As Coaches'
Before critiquing the players, Coen presented things the staff could have called better and coached better. Frankly, it's a good way to start a meeting, by pointing the thumb at himself. Yes, these were negative plays, but Coen didn't put it on the players.
Coen showed me three plays, one apiece on offense, defense and special teams as examples.
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1.Trailing 21-0 to the Rams, the Jaguars had fourth-and-7 from the Rams' 11 late in the second quarter. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence had no options and scrambled for 4 yards.
"I called a pass play that (stunk)," Coen said. "Just flat-out (stunk). There was nothing really for Trevor to get the first down. … I didn't help put them in a position to be successful."
2.The Rams had third-and-7 at the Jaguars' 42 midway through the fourth quarter. The game was out of reach, but remained a talking point for Coen.
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Coen figured the Rams were in four-down territory — get some of the yardage back with a run play on third down to set up a fourth-and-manageable play.
Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, Coen said, called a "pass defense." At the snap, Eric Murray retreated into a high-safety look, taking him out of run support. Coen said the defensive line call was a "move front," which took them out of position and running back Kyren Williams gained 9 yards.
"Not a good call by us," Coen said.
3.On the second-half opening kickoff, the Rams' Xavier Smith gained 32 yards, a potential touchdown saved by the Jaguars' Montaric Brown .
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Coen said the Jaguars "over-coached a detail," about having the coverage players collapse from the back-side of the play — indeed, the All-22 video clip on Coen's office wall showed the two outside defenders veering inside and out of their lanes, losing containment.
"Montaric makes a great play, but it was almost a big one," Coen said.
Section 2: 'Self-Inflicted Errors'
Self-explanatory, right?
The Jaguars' 65 penalties lead the NFL and are third-most in team history through seven games. By my count, 24 penalties belong in the completely unforced bucket, things like false starts (11), delay of game (three) and illegal forward pass (two). That's just the offense.
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Coen didn't need to acknowledge many of those plays in the team meeting — those had been addressed in the day-after-game meetings. In his view, there were several physical penalties that can all be termed "self-inflicted," as well as things like Lawrence's cadence — Coen used the broadcast video of a play with sound to make that point.
"The things we can control: Alignment and fundamentals," Coen said.
Coen showed the players multiple clips of penalties that were during the play but can be easily eliminated.
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"You're like, 'What would have the Rams game looked like if we didn't have 18 penalties (including those declined and offset)?'" Coen said.
Among the penalties that jumped off my play sheets: Receiver Travis Hunter lining up offside to wipe out Brian Thomas Jr. 's 55-yard touchdown catch against Seattle, running back Bhayshul Tuten engaging in a double-team block on a kick return and holding penalties against the Rams by Brown and receiver Tim Patrick , both of whom simply grabbed their opponent on the outside shoulders, an easy call for the officials.
The Jaguars somehow beat Carolina and San Francisco despite 11 and 10 penalties apiece. Having 10 and 13 penalties cost them against Seattle and the Rams.
Section 3: 'Everything Is In Front Of Us'
Coen ended the team meeting on an uplifting note, showing positive play after positive play.
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"Going all the way back to Carolina, all of the best (stuff) we've done and who we are on offense, defense and (special) teams and just showing them all really good examples of, 'Guys, when we're at our best and we're rolling and playing to the best of our ability, this is what it looks like. This is who we are,'" Coen said.
The Jaguars have 43 explosive plays — 10 rushes of at least 12 yards and 33 passes of at least 16 yards. Some of those plays were in Coen's clip reel. Same for some of the 14 takeaways the Jaguars have forced, some key third-down conversions and important special teams plays.
Coen put the clicker back on his desk and sat back down at the conference table.
"We're all in this thing together," he said. "We've all made mistakes. We have to clean up the details because we've faced two teams in the last two weeks that have matched our intensity and edge and physicality and have out-executed us and out-coached us."
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The Jaguars' next five opponents are 2-5 Las Vegas , 2-4 Houston , the 4-3 Los Angeles Chargers , 2-5 Arizona and 1-6 Tennessee .
"At the end of the day, there has been a lot of good stuff," Coen said of the first seven games. "Everything we want is in front of us. Everything."
Coming Friday, OCt. 24Jaguars coach Liam Coen talks about quarterback Trevor Lawrence, receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter
Contact Ryan O'Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: How is Liam Coen addressing Jacksonville Jaguars woes? Check the tape
