Liam Coen liked what he saw from the Jaguars in their first full week back from the bye. “Yesterday was our best football practice we’ve had in a while, in a long time, all together,” the Jaguars head coach said on Friday. “The energy, the individual periods, the execution, the competitiveness. It was just a good, sharp, clean practice. They handled it the right way.”
The 4-2 Jaguars lead the AFC South and host the 2-5 Colts at EverBank Stadium on Sunday, their first home game in more than a month. Their last game was a 34-31 loss to the Houston Texans in London before the Week 7 bye. Coen said Monday’s practice “wasn’t probably our cleanest,” but the intent was right, and Wednesday was “nice and physical.” “We should have some fresher legs,” he said. “We should be able to bop around a little bit more and have a little bit more physicality at practice and intentionality.”
Wet footballs all week
Rain is in the forecast, so the Jaguars used wet balls in every individual and ball-security period on Wednesday and Thursday. Coen admitted it is probably “overkill,” with players dunking footballs in a bucket, since officials usually help by swapping balls. But he remembered how much it rained in this game last season, especially in a two-minute drill at the end of the half, “where the ball’s not getting subbed out and you’re trying to throw a grenade a little bit at times.”
He is not worried about Trevor Lawrence. “I just know Trevor threw it really good last time in the rain specifically, and he’s never really worried about it,” Coen said. “He’s a guy that does have big hands, and so I think that helps. It’s more the pass catchers, right? Like the gloves, no gloves, and the comfort level there.” He said hands have been a focus since the bye, from blocking on the line to blocking on the perimeter, and that “a big part of this game plan is the pass catchers and skill players really having great focus and intentionality with their hands.”
“A very well-coached football team”
The Colts’ week has been about the players they traded, including guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. Coen said that should not fool anyone. “I really believe that they’re a very well-coached football team in all three phases,” he said. “I’ve got a ton of respect for Lou. I’ve known and coached against Lou for a very long time,” he added, speaking of Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.
He said he remembered talking with Sean McVay after last season’s Rams-Colts game. “Sean was like, man, that is a good, well-coached group. And you can see it,” Coen said. “Their run schemes, they’re not running runs into bad looks, and they’re running multiple different schemes. Their offensive line is well-coached. Their tight ends are good.” He said Indianapolis is not going to beat itself. “Unless you can get some turnovers, they’re not going to just screw it up by scheme or screw it up by poor coaching. That’s not happening,” he said. “You listen to Jonathan Taylor’s comments and all that stuff throughout the week. This is going to be a team ready to go. These guys are pros. They know what’s on the line. They know it’s a division game.”
The Colts have injuries at nickel cornerback, and Coen said that makes it hard to know whether Anarumo will play it safe or bring pressure. “Are they going to play it a little bit more safe and sound and let those guys go play coverage, or is it like, hey man, we’re going to heat you up and here we go?” he said. “I think it’ll probably end up being a balance of both.” But he said the message late in the week is about the Jaguars. “This is so much more about us, our execution,” he said. “We got to go win one-on-one matchups. We got to call a good game.”
Not peeking at Baltimore
The Jaguars play the Ravens in Baltimore on Thursday night, November 5. Coen said some assistants did groundwork on that game during the bye, but he has not looked at it himself. As a play-caller, he said, he has struggled when he tried to game-plan two weeks at once. “It’s different personnel, it’s different ways of attacking, it’s different play-callers, and so I’ve tried not to do that,” he said. For a short week, he said, the focus is “what do we do best? What fits their structure?” and what can carry over from earlier game plans. “You’re really not trying to throw new at the guys next week specifically.”
For this week, he said, the plan is already finished. “The game plan’s done today,” he said. “We try really hard not to add on Saturdays,” other than small tweaks such as cutting a motion. Saturday is for walk-throughs, his game management meeting and situational football, with wind, rain and weather in mind. “The plan is usually 99% done on Fridays,” he said.
Pregnon, Merriweather and Rodriguez
Rookie left guard Emmanuel Pregnon, a third-round pick from Oregon, has started every game. Coen said he has brought “a physicality to our group and a people mover to our group.” The next step, he said, is at the second level and in space, using his length “as a weapon” when he is not in perfect position, so he does not have to hold. He said Pregnon has done well in pass protection lately and is not making mental errors. “You talk about missed assignments as a rookie, that’s not popping up,” Coen said. “He’s not coming out of each game with two or three missed assignments. That doesn’t happen. And the guys at Oregon said that would be the case.”
With starting safety Antonio Johnson out with an ankle injury, Kaevon Merriweather has stepped in. Coen coached him in Tampa Bay in 2024, when Coen said Merriweather started about eight games at safety. “The game wasn’t too big for him,” Coen said. He said Merriweather picked up Houston’s style after he moved to the Texans, “that physicality, like running to the football,” and has “done a nice job stepping in for us.”
Coen also said running back Chris Rodriguez Jr., who played for him at Kentucky, is starting to get rolling. He said he challenged Rodriguez over the last couple of weeks to stay patient and show vision while still running hard, and that the biggest sign of trust has been in pass protection. “Whether it’s in normal down and distance or known passing situations, we feel like we can trust to put him in the football game in those settings, which usually helps earn trust and usually shows a player is starting to get it,” Coen said. “He’s starting to understand the bigger picture and take hold of the role, not just as, oh, I’m a first and second down runner.” He added: “Hopefully we’re going to need him this Sunday, knowing what kind of game this is likely to be.”
Injury report and roster move
Johnson was ruled out on Friday. Receiver Jakobi Meyers (hamstring) is questionable. Long snapper Ross Matiscik and cornerback Montaric Brown, who both missed the London game, have no game status and are expected to play, as are tight end Brenton Strange, defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro, linebacker Jahlani Tavai, running back LeQuint Allen Jr. and defensive end Josh Hines-Allen. On Saturday the Jaguars elevated linebacker Jamal Hill from the practice squad.
The Jaguars host the Colts on Sunday, November 1, at 1 p.m. ET, which is 8 p.m. in Cairo.
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