Story by
No Jaguars controversy here: Liam Coen, Trevor Lawrence exchange rooted in desire to win
- Story by
- No Jaguars controversy here: Liam Coen, Trevor Lawrence exchange rooted in desire to win
(This column has been updated.)
ARGUMENTS!
ANGST!
ANIMOSITY!
You saw it, right? Of course, you did. If you didn't see it during the CBS broadcast late in Sunday's Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cincinnati game, you certainly saw it on social media or highlight shows or debate shows.
Advertisement
Trevor Lawrence vs. Liam Coen .
Quarterback vs. coach.
How? Answering four questions following the Jaguars' dismal 31-27 loss to Cincinnati Bengals
Coen, the Jaguars' first-year coach/play-caller was ticked off at Lawrence, the fifth-year quarterback, about his previous throw, an incompletion to receiver Dyami Brown .
Lawrence looked back to the sideline to receive the next play and Coen slapped his chest one, two, three times while yelling, signaling where the pass should have been thrown (into the body instead of up high).
Lawrence waved him off and turned his back, sending the Perception Police into overdrive, sirens blaring.
Advertisement
Lawrence had to mean, "Enough, Liam. You call the plays and I'll throw the passes."
Or, "You want to play quarterback, pal?"
Or, "I'm tired of this guy!"
Actually, not.
It isn't Much Ado About Nothing, more like Much Ado About Something.
Something cool, something productive and something refreshing. Two competitors feeding off each other, Lawrence learning to show some of Coen's fire and Coen learning to display some of Lawrence's even-keel-o-rama approach.
Coen and Lawrence are fine. But that doesn't mean other people think so or we can't have some fun with that play.
Advertisement
'We're all emotional'
DISCORD!
DISAGREEMENT!
DISSENT!
Actually, not really.
Coen and Lawrence are fine.
Jaguars 10 Thoughts: How road win became road loss to Bengals | Ryan O'Halloran
You never know what will upset a coach. They see what we don't. They see the technique/fundamental errors that we might after watching the same play five times, if we're lucky. That is their job, just like we do things nobody else can in our jobs.
Coen saw Lawrence's bad throw (in his view) instantly. Leading the Bengals 27-24, the Jaguars had second-and-14 from the Cincinnati 16. A touchdown and the game was over and the Jaguars could fly home 2-0 and have the city energized entering this Sunday's home game against the Houston Texans .
Advertisement
Brown ran straight ahead 5 yards, stopped and turned around. Lawrence's throw was high and wide and incomplete.
Coen was enraged.
"I was (ticked)," Coen said after the game, a 31-27 loss to Cincinnati . "That's emotion — it's not personal ever. It's me kind of getting worked up."
I asked Coen Monday afternoon about the interaction and his response to the video going viral.
Coen laughed.
"It gets made to be a thing obviously in this rat poison world we live in," he said.
"Rat poison" was a term popularized by former Alabama coach Nick Saban when warning his players not to get too high after a big win and get caught up in all of the outside praise. Coen used it in a different way, pointing out how a coach-quarterback relationship will go nowhere good if they listen to the outside chatter.
Advertisement
"It's emotional," Coen continued. "It's an emotional game. It's a competitive game. We're all competitive. We're all emotional. I can control mine better and (Lawrence) was just telling me to, 'Chill,' like, 'Dude, move on.' He wasn't telling me, 'Go (take a hike).'"
Who hasn't told a colleague to take a long dive off a short pier? Back in the day as the Times-Union's Jaguars beat writers, Hays Carlyon and I regularly told one colleague to take a hike … but then we would hug it out.
Partnership in good spot
CONTROVERSY!
CHAOS!
Advertisement
CONFLICT!
Actually, not really.
Coen and Lawrence are fine.
Coach Bill Parcells and quarterback Phil Simms had a classic blow-up during a New York Giants Monday night game in Indianapolis . Offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien and quarterback Tom Brady slugged it out verbally one Sunday afternoon in Washington. And just last October, Denver coach Sean Payton and quarterback Bo Nix on the home sideline against Las Vegas .
Sep 14, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) runs with the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals in the second half at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
It happens. Nobody is wrong. It makes for good media fodder.
Thing is, Coen was probably right in not liking the throw that led to the chest pounding/yelling. A completion to Brown would have given the Jaguars a third-and-9 from the 11. Let's say running back LeQuint Allen Jr. gains 9 yards on the next play (like he did on third-and-15) to get the first down. The Jaguars could have punched it in for a put-away touchdown.
Advertisement
On fourth-and-5 from the 7, Lawrence's pass was dropped by receiver Brian Thomas Jr. ( Thomas' play against the Bengals is a much bigger issue entering Houston Week than anything about the Coen-Lawrence partnership.)
"(Coen) is really passionate, which is something I've noticed ever since he's been here," Lawrence said after the game. "I love that about him. He'll get fired up. There are times I'm not always that way. He's honestly brought a little bit more of that (fire) out of me."
Lawrence playing with more snarl could mean Lawrence playing better. He's a guy who wants to be coached. If Lawrence and Coen spare every so often, chances are the Jaguars will benefit in the short and long runs.
"I was very pleased with the way he showed something; he got ticked off at times," Coen said. "We had some great conversations in the locker room, on the plane, (Monday), so all is well when it comes to our relationship."
Advertisement
Coen and Lawrence are fine.
O'Halloran can be reached at rohalloran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars Liam Coen, Trevor Lawrence heated exchange rooted in winning
