Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen dealt with multiple subjects during his usual Monday Zoom conference following a 34-31 loss to the Houston Texans in London on Oct. 18. He addressed the team's offensive production (very good), defense (needs work) and taking the bye week to evaluate fundamental and situational football (needs more work).
The Jaguars (4-2), still leading the AFC South by two games, will next play on Nov. 1 at EverBank Stadium against the Indianapolis Colts.
Liam Coen on the role of rookies
"We've obviously got some contributions from some of those young guys … was nice to see [tight end] Nate [Boerkircher] make that play [touchdown] in the red zone, which is something that you know we had seen him be able to do throughout the course of training camp and some of the joint
practices. [I] think he's playing his tail off. [Tight end Tanner] Koziol got a little bit more time as well this week, hoping to continue to build off of that. [Wide receiver] Josh Cameron, as we know, he's obviously playing a lot of football for us.
"[Defensive end] Bryan Thomas Jr. … hopefully continue to get him some more rush ops as we go. He's doing a good job on special teams. [Offensive guard Emmanuel] Pregnon had one of his better outings yesterday … had the one hold, and we'll continue to work with him as he goes on the second level and getting up and getting in space. But I thought he played really, really well on the inside for us yesterday. I thought [defensive linemen] Wesley Williams and Albert Regis had awesome weeks of practice. They were so critical to our preparation last week. They gave us such a good look up front."
Liam Coen on the offense
"I think from what we envisioned, I think there's a lot of football that points to what we were hoping for. I thought yesterday we stayed out of the longer third downs. I thought we were a little bit more efficient. We ran the ball effectively. I think, probably could have got some more runs. We're kind of chasing points, but I did think we've been able to run the ball more efficiently at times. I think the backs are running hard. We've protected … I'd like to continue to see us be you know more explosive and get some more explosive plays … I would like to see us maybe get some more of those explosives [on the running game] more like 15-, 20-yard runs.
"I was pleased with the offense's response yesterday in a lot of ways. You know, to move it effectively throughout. Never really felt like we were just static or couldn't move it, and so they should take confidence from some of those things yesterday. And six games in, I've been very pleased with [quarterback] Trevor Lawrence."
Liam Coen on going for the late Cam Little field goal
"Every decision like that … coach's decision … there's always hindsight. You look at, all right, we don't get it. We're gonna need a stop either way. I felt like we had just got the turnover. Maybe we put a little pressure on them on the other side of the ball. But [Little] gives you so much confidence in those moments, regardless of end of the game or the half, like you feel like you got a shot, and that's why we were able to be aggressive at the end of half was to try to put us in a position to get points.
"He's such a weapon. Sometimes what makes some of these decisions challenging is when you have a guy that's so dynamic that he can make kicks from so many different spots on the field. But very proud of Cam in the last, really the last few weeks that he's had. Just continues to give us a chance to win."
Liam Coen on getting players off injured reserve
"I don't think anybody anytime soon. You know [offensive guard] Patrick [Mekari] could. You know, obviously be somebody from a depth standpoint that can be available for us to be able to help us. But I wouldn't see anybody else at the moment. You know, [offensive tackle] Anton [Harrison]. But as of right now, I'd say Patrick would probably be the closest, and then I think [defensive end] B.J. Green."
Liam Coen on the Jaguars' lack of pass rush
"[In] regards to the pass rush, I think our pressure rates actually [are] not so bad. They [Houston] were struggling at times. They did a good job of getting the ball out."
Liam Coen on the secondary rotation, given injuries
"Antonio [Johnson] goes down … Eric [Murray's] back. Kaevon [Merriweather] hasn't played a ton, and so I think we can do a better job as coaches in helping you know settle them down with some of the communication and calls and being able to limit some of the inventory to just be able to go and continue to do what we do best, to put our guys in a position, especially when you're feeling a little bit like we're getting chased. Ultimately, we've got to be able to communicate at a high level out there."
Liam Coen on the priorities during the bye week
"I think looking at situational football is something that you just always learn from. So many of these games come down to one score in this league. Little situational things that just come up, they happen, and it affects games. It affects winning and losing games. You just you cannot rep enough situational football. You just you don't have enough time in the day to do it. But emphasizing it, as we're in our second year together … work on more of those end-to-half, end-to-game scenarios, all those different things."
So I think that's an area of focus that we want to continue to lean into, and then you know playing clean in terms of the self-inflicted things, whether it's fundamentals and techniques of blocking and playing coverage and man coverage. And so, being fundamentally sharp throughout the course of the week to be able to provide that on Sundays, and then situational football, I think, are things that we can absolutely work on throughout this little break when we get back."
Liam Coen on his optimism entering the bye week
"Everything's not going exactly according to plan [against Houston], and they just keep playing their tails off. And there's situational football, things that pop up, clock stuff, all this stuff that we have to continue to learn from. All of us ... truly collectively as a group, and to be six weeks in, and to feel confident that your team's going to respond, that we're made of the right stuff to respond. And we have so much football left that you're excited about. You're excited about getting things corrected. You're excited about being able to be in those moments again and maybe do it right or do it better the next time.
"As much as it hurts in the moment and in the aftermath ... I have a lot of confidence in this football team. I'm very excited about this football team."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen staying optimistic despite loss
