JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars are off to their best start in eight seasons and heading into a massive showdown on Monday night against football royalty.
And head coach Liam Coen knows that’s an excellent start for a team that has yet to play its best football.
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The Jaguars (3-1) handled business in Week 4, going to San Francisco and beating the Niners 26-21 for their first win there in franchise history. It’s just the eighth time that Jacksonville has been 3-1 (or better) in its first four games. The last time it happened was in 2018.
While things haven’t always looked the prettiest, Jacksonville is winning games now when it easily would have lost them in the past.
“I would feel a lot worse here if we were doing what we were doing, and then man, we’re just having to come from behind in the fourth quarter, and then we’re just making a play or two, and oh, whew, man, thank God,” Coen said.
“We are controlling these games through the entire game, and just we’ve got to go figure out and go find that next level of execution to maybe make those games not close. I think that’s really what the message is for us is guys, we are controlling these last two games.”
There’s an even greater task ahead in Week 5 — “Monday Night Football” against the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes. It’s the second in a brutal stretch of four games that has the potential to shape Jacksonville’s season.
They beat San Francisco, host Kansas City (2-2) and then host Seattle on a short week before facing the Rams in London in Week 7. While it hasn’t always looked pretty, especially on offense, Coen said he’s been pleased with the start and winning close games.
The big headline going in (and coming out of) that game was San Francisco defensive coordinator Robert Saleh saying Coen and his staff were good at “legal” sign stealing. Coen took umbrage to that backhanded compliment and had words for Saleh after the game.
“I think passion can kind of look like aggression when you don’t know what you’re looking at and I want a passionate leader,” linebacker Dennis Gardeck said of Coen. “So, it’s good to see that this stuff matters just as much to him as it does to all of us and proud of my head coach.”
Jaguars center Robert Hainsey got in front of Coen to prevent the jawing between those two from escalating.
“That was the easiest one [block of the day], for sure,” Hainsey said.
Back and forth aside, Jacksonville’s start under the new regime has been electric. The defense has forced 13 turnovers through four games, the most in franchise history. Even with the offense struggling in games against the Texans and Niners, the defense has picked up the slack. Antonio Johnson had the diving, game-clinching interception against Houston in Week 3. Arik Armstead forced a fumble on San Francisco’s final drive that Foye Oluokun recovered to preserve the win.
“It’s still a lot of good football going on out there, and it’s like our highs specifically on offense are very, very good football, and then the low just gets, whew, it goes down,” Coen said.
“So, it’s like, okay, we’ve got to find that balance of, it’s very unrealistic to say maybe we’re going to execute perfectly for 60 minutes. It’s when we have a dip or maybe a not-so-good play. It can’t be like, oh my God, that was a really bad play where we’re third-and-20 now again and that level of focus and execution, but it’s better to be able to do after you’ve won some of these games.”
The Jaguars have needed all of that defense as the offense continues to try and find its stride. The ground game has been consistent behind Travis Etienne and an improved offensive line. The passing game remains a work in progress.
Trevor Lawrence’s numbers have been decent, but he’s not lighting teams up. Lawrence has passed for 845 yards (5 TDs, 4 INTs) and completed 58.3% of his passes. Drops have been a killer for Jacksonville receivers, so Lawrence’s totals should be a little bit better than they are. But Coen said it’s progress for Lawrence, who has looked stronger than his numbers indicate.
“He’s been phenomenal with the protections, the schemes, getting us in the right protections, but I think it was a step in the right direction in a lot of ways, and he can clean up some of the things from the second half,” Coen said. “It’s very correctable. And then, making a play at the end of the game, obviously, we wanted to get out of bounds, but then makes the play to [TE] Hunter Long, big-time moment. So, a lot to build off.”
Walker seeing a specialist
Edger rusher Travon Walker left the game in the first quarter with a wrist injury and didn’t return. Coen said that Walker was seeing a specialist Monday, and that Jacksonville was still in the early stages of seeing where to go from here.
“We are in the information gathering process with that, and we’ll know more after he has that appointment to be able to see what his status will be moving forward,” Coen said.
Walker has been very good on the defensive front this year, racking up 14 pressures to rank in the top 20, according to PFF. If Walker is out or limited, that means more attention will be on his edge mate, Josh Hines-Allen.
He’s been superb in bringing the pressure. Entering Week 4, Hines-Allen ranked third in the league in total pressures and first in quarterback hits.