JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The new-look Jaguars looked a lot better than the old ones.
Not even a lengthy weather delay could dampen Liam Coen’s debut with the Jaguars as Jacksonville handled the Panthers 26-10 on Sunday at EverBank Stadium.
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The Jaguars (1-0), buoyed by an offseason makeover that included first timers at head coach (Coen), general manager (James Gladstone) and both coordinators (Anthony Campanile and Grant Udinski), were the better team from open to close.
Campanile’s defense forced three turnovers (one third of Jacksonville’s entire takeaway total in 2024) and set the tone for a huge Week 1 win. That earned Coen a game ball from owner Shad Khan, which the head coach said he reluctantly accepted.
“Yeah, a little bit. My boss gave it to me, so I had to accept. You know, it’s a cool moment for me personally and all that, but really it’s about those guys,” Coen said. “I mean, these guys played their tail off. I thought the defensive staff, specifically, did a great job.”
Trevor Lawrence had a touchdown pass and an interception, but was solid in his debut under Coen. Travis Etienne had a monster day on the ground (16 carries, 143 yards) and the defense had three takeaways in the win. Rookie Travis Hunter, sporting a new hairdo, had 33 yards on six catches in his debut.
Yes, it was the Panthers and Bryce Young, who looked more like the old Young than the revamped version he looked like in late 2024, but it was an excellent start for the Jaguars and Coen.
“Yeah, I mean, really cool to be standing up here obviously after a win, but I was just really proud to be their coach today with the way that they competed, the way we hit, the way we were more physical, all the things that we kind of wanted to preach about,” Coen said. “Now, is it perfect? Absolutely not.”
Trevor solid in Week 1
An offseason of work in Coen’s system paid off for Lawrence against the Panthers. After way too many hot and cold outings in his first four years, Week 1 was a small sign that Lawrence may very well be ready for a big year.
His best work came in the opening half, largely throwing to his tight ends and letting the plays develop. Lawrence’s first scoring pass of the season came on a 6-yard toss to free agent addition Hunter Long to give Jacksonville a 10-3 lead midway through the second quarter. It was a lead that the Jaguars didn’t come close to giving back.
“It’s been a while. Yeah, it felt great,” Lawrence said. “It’s fun being back out there. Yeah, that’s all I got. It was great. It was fun. Fun to get a one win, man. That was awesome.”
Brenton Strange had 59 yards on four catches to lead the pass catchers. Dyami Brown was next (three catches, 52 yards).
Lawrence’s worst throw of the game came late in the third quarter when he looked deep for Travis Hunter and didn’t put enough juice on it. Jaycee Horn made a pick of the week candidate, going up high and snagging it for a one-handed interception. Lawrence finished 19 of 31 for 178 yards.
“I thought he handled things well. I thought he had not a great third quarter, to be honest,” Coen said. “You know, we need to be more accurate and complete some of those balls when we have people open, but I thought overall, for his first start in a new system, he handled it really well. He got us in and out of plays. He had to can a lot of plays, and he did it effectively and efficiently. I was proud of his leadership.”
Running game shines
One of Coen’s big talking points this offseason was how much the Jaguars needed to both block and run better. A significant part of Coen’s success in Tampa Bay as offensive coordinator was helping the Buccaneers go from the league’s worst ground game (88.8 yards per game rushing in 2023) to the NFL’s fourth-best running attack last year (149.2 ypg). The offensive line held up well, keeping Lawrence off the ground and not giving up a sack.
The ground game was key against the Panthers.
After Carolina pinned Jacksonville back at its own 9 following a punt with just under four minutes left in the half, Jacksonville called a run play straight up the middle with Travis Etienne.
He went straight through the center of the line and ripped off a career-long 71-yard run down to the Panthers 20. Three plays later, Brian Thomas Jr. scored on a 9-yard rushing (yes, a rushing) touchdown and a 17-3 lead. A big conversion came early in the fourth quarter, a fourth-and-1 play that was all too familiar to Jacksonville fans last year. Tank Bigsby barreled through and picked up the first. That’s major progress.
“I always see these days coming, man. Being a competitor, being a football player, we don’t work hard to come out here and not put our best foot forward. With my little brother on the other sideline, I had a little extra motivation,” Etienne said. “Just kind of wanted to show him how to run the ball, show him how it’s done. So, this is a great feeling just being able to share the field with him and being able to come out with a win.”
Jacksonville rushed for 200 yards on 32 carries (6.3), although no one other than Etienne had more than 12 yards on the ground. Hunter had a quieter debut but he was thrilled just to get the win.
“We went out there and won. We won the game,” he said." We were able to take — my first game was a W, so that’s exciting for me."
Defense looks much better
Jacksonville’s defense looked excellent.
Fans were accustomed to seeing former coordinator Ryan Nielsen’s unit struggle on a weekly basis. It couldn’t pressure the quarterback, was awful against the run, and could hardly do anything right when it came to takeaways.
Foye Oluokun had one of his best games since arriving in Jacksonville as a free agent three years ago, intercepting a Bryce Young pass and forcing a Young fumble, both in the second quarter. Jourdan Lewis recovered it to get Jacksonville in scoring position.
And those takeaways both led to points, with Lawrence hitting Hunter Long on a 6-yard touchdown following the pick, and Cam Little hitting a 47-yard field goal with 1 second before half for a 20-3 lead.
“Just to come out here and feel like we played well,” Oluokun said. “Obviously, there’s stuff that we should improve on, we need to improve on, but coming out here and everybody flying around, everybody keeping that camaraderie that we had from offseason to the first game, it just felt great.
Those takeaways were rarities by recent Jacksonville standards. The team had one of the league’s worst defenses and takeaway ratios last year under Doug Pederson. The Jaguars had just six interceptions and three fumble recoveries last year, a minus-15 turnover differential.
Dawuane Smoot had a sack in his return to the Jaguars, dragging Young down on a third-and-1 play to force a punt in the third quarter. Jacksonville also denied Carolina on two fourth-down plays in the third quarter, and Lewis provided Jacksonville’s third takeaway of the game on Carolina’s final drive with a game-sealing interception.