Liam Coen went into the Jacksonville Jaguars’ bye week with a 4-2 record, a two-game lead in the AFC South and a clear explanation for the call that set up Sunday’s finish in London. “I have a lot of confidence in this football team,” the head coach said on Monday, a day after the 34-31 loss to the Houston Texans at Wembley Stadium.
“It’s a coach’s decision”
With 1:55 left and the Jaguars down three, Coen sent Cam Little out on fourth-and-4 from the Houston 42. Little made the 60-yard field goal to tie the game at 31. Houston then drove 36 yards, and Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a 49-yarder as time ran out.
Coen walked through his thinking. “Every decision like that, it’s a coach’s decision. I ended up doing that,” he said. “There’s always hindsight. You look at it: we don’t get it, we’re going to need a stop either way. If we go down and you’re down by six points, now we’ve got to go score a touchdown. I felt like we had just got the turnover, maybe we put a little pressure on them on the other side of the ball.” The turnover was Travis Hunter’s interception of C.J. Stroud in the end zone on the drive before.
Little’s range was a big part of the decision. “He gives you so much confidence to be able to be in those moments, regardless of end of game, end of half,” Coen said. “You feel like you’ve got a shot.”
“Very pleased with Trevor Lawrence”
Lawrence went 24 of 41 for 306 yards with four touchdowns and an interception on Sunday. He has 14 touchdown passes and four interceptions this season. “Six games in, I’ve been very pleased with Trevor Lawrence,” Coen said. “Trevor gives me so much confidence on a weekly basis as a play caller, and the way that I think he’s seeing it right now and playing, I’m very excited about this football team right now.”
Jacksonville had 412 yards and 24 first downs, and Coen liked how the offense moved the ball. “I never really felt like we were just static or couldn’t move it,” he said. He said he probably could have called more runs, but “we’re down 10, we’re kind of chasing points.” What he wants next is more big plays in the run game. He said he does not want to “get too greedy” hunting for explosive plays, “but I would like to see us maybe get some more of those explosives. I mean more like 15-, 20-yard runs. I’m not saying we have to be hitting 30- and 40-yarders.”
He singled out rookie left guard Emmanuel Pregnon, who he said had “one of his better outings” despite one holding call.
“It definitely is an offensive surface”
Coen said the staff studied the Wembley turf before the trip, including tape of last year’s game there against the Rams, and he thinks it helps the offense. “It definitely is an offensive surface, that’s for sure,” he said. “There was a lot of guys in all three phases, on both sides, on the ground a little bit. We missed more tackles than we have in previous weeks.” He said it gets slick even without rain, “and then it did rain, so it made it more slick.” He also praised his offensive line for the way it protected Lawrence: “It was phenomenal.”
The run defense, which had been the best in the league, gave up 114 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. Coen said Houston’s backs “made some good cuts and we missed some tackles,” and that once the Texans were completing passes over the top, “that allows for the whole playbook to be open as an offensive play caller.” His verdict: “It definitely wasn’t our standard, that’s for sure. Good, humbling day.” With some less experienced players in the secondary, he said the coaches can help by trimming calls: “Sometimes it’s like, hey, we just got to go simplify things, let our guys get their cleats in the ground and go play.”
Mekari closest to a return
Asked whether anyone on injured reserve could help after the bye, Coen said he did not expect anybody back soon. He named guard Patrick Mekari, who opened the season on injured reserve after back surgery, as the closest. “Patrick would probably be the closest,” he said. On right tackle Anton Harrison, who went on injured reserve before arthroscopic knee surgery, he said: “We have to see when that thing all shakes itself out.”
Situational work over the break
Coen said situational football will be the focus when the team comes back. “So many of these games come down to one score in this league,” he said. “You cannot rep enough situational football.” He also wants cleaner technique to cut down on self-inflicted penalties. “When we get back, we’ll have a good situational practice on Monday to get these guys back in and rolling,” he said.
The Jaguars host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, November 1, at 1:00 p.m. EST.
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