JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars are headed to their biggest test of the season on Sunday, and now, it comes accompanied by a tasty headline.
Not that Jacksonville (2-1) needed any extra motivation for its 4 p.m. clash against the Niners (3-0), but it certainly gained some this week.
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San Francisco defensive coordinator Robert Saleh gave the Jaguars some headlines this week when he said Coen and the staff are “elite” when it comes to stealing an opponent’s signals, in a legal way of course.
Backhanded compliment or a veiled way to paint Jacksonville’s staff in a Connor Stalions-esque light, the barb certainly added a new layer to the game.
That was a tasty headline to boost Sunday’s Week 4 game, and one that Coen danced around answering when asked for a response to Saleh’s jab.
“Again, we’re really trying to focus on a darn good defense that we have to go and try to go attack and offensively get better, about us getting better, putting it together for four quarters and trying to create some explosives in the pass game, some of those things that we’re trying to get better at as an offense,” Coen said. “So, that’s where the focus is right now.”
West Coast history is ominous for Jaguars
Jacksonville’s history on the West Coast isn’t a good one. The Jaguars are 4-15 all time in games played in California or Washington. They’re 0-2 against San Francisco, 0-4 at Seattle, 0-1 against the Rams in Los Angeles, 1-5 at the Chargers and 3-3 against the Raiders in Oakland.
Coen knows San Francisco well, and said that he expects another tough, physical game along the lines of what Jacksonville saw against the Texans. The Niners also expect quarterback Brock Purdy back in the lineup this week.
The big thing is can the Jaguars continue their strong early season defensive success against a team like San Francisco. Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker have been two of the league’s best at pressuring the quarterback. Hines-Allen will likely face off against Niners tackle Trent Williams, one of the league’s best.
“Yeah, and especially off the heels of Houston, because there are so many similarities there. Not just structurally, but the way they play,” Coen said. “Their style of play is very similar to the group in Houston that we just played and so from a mindset, you know going into it before you even turn the tape on, it’s going to be a physical, violent football game, and that’s got to be our mindset going into every week.”
The Jaguars have been one of the league’s best on defense to start the season. They’ve forced three turnovers in each of their first three games for the first time in franchise history. Their seven interceptions lead the league, and they’ve already matched their takeaway total from 2024.
More work for Hunter?
Rookie Travis Hunter made a big catch and run last week against Houston, putting a spin move on a defender and turning it into a 21-yard gain. Hunter has also flashed at times on defense, but it has been a relatively quiet start for the Heisman Trophy winner. He has 76 yards on 10 catches through three games.
Hunter’s former head coach at Colorado, Deion Sanders, said on a podcast this week that the Jaguars weren’t using the two-way star enough. Coen Jacksonville plans to continue bump up Hunter’s reps.
“Yeah, I thought last week he definitely made a play with the ball in his hands, and I think we can continue to get the ball in his hands as much as it allows from a formation, motion, the concept, the coverage sometimes dictates where the ball goes,” Coen said.
“It was very nice to see him on a second and long, I believe it was, catch a five-yard pass and go do something with it. That’s so much that’s a part of this game, and it’s not something you can necessarily always coach them to do. So, I think as we continue to go, his usage will continue to go.”
Hunter will need to play a larger role at receiver if Dyami Brown remains limited from a shoulder injury. The Jaguars have flashed offensively at times, but the passing game has been sluggish. Receiver Brian Thomas Jr. is mired in a miserable start. But quarterback Trevor Lawrence thinks the Jaguars are in the process of getting quite a few of the issues that have plagued them this season (penalties, dropped passes, timing issues) fixed.
“Yeah, I think that we’re close. There are some things that we’ve needed to clean up the first three weeks that we haven’t yet. So, I’d love to see us just clean up some of that stuff. Just the penalties, shooting ourselves in the foot, all those things that should be easy to clean up, we’ve got to go and correct that first and foremost,” he said. “I think some of the stuff from last week, obviously didn’t have our best week offensively. I think before that game, we did some things. We were explosive. We had some good things going. I just think last week we obviously struggled a little bit. So, it’s just about how we respond from that.”