Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen talked with the media on Oct. 26 during a virtual news conference, just after holding a team meeting to welcome the players back after a bye week.
The Jaguars are 4-2 with a three-game lead in the loss column over the Indianapolis Colts (2-5) in the AFC South. The Jaguars host the Colts on Nov. 1 at EverBank Stadium (1 p.m., CBS).
Liam Coen on corrections during the bye week
"Penalties, specifically in the red area, have been a little bit of an issue on offense. Defensively, too many explosives [allowed] in the pass game, and then on special teams, we've got to perform better on punt return and kickoff coverage specifically."
Liam Coen on injured DBs Montaric Brown and Antonio Johnson
"TBD [to be determined] on both of those guys as of right now. In terms of being able to give any perspective to Sunday, I'll be able to see
those guys buzz around a little bit today [Oct. 26]. We're just gonna kind of get back out on the grass and attack it a little bit from an individual standpoint, and get our cleats back in the ground. So can't say for sure, but definitely excited about getting those guys back on the grass."
Liam Coen on the positives of the bye week
"I think just a reset. Anytime you get a little bit of an opportunity to reset … gather your thoughts. Also, get away from it a little bit. Sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder in ways. And no different in football. I couldn't sleep last night, excited about getting back in the building and getting back with these guys and attacking this next 11 games together and really getting after it. Six weeks in, you see all the stuff that happens on any given Sunday, specifically within our division. It should only allow you to have a mindset and mentality to come in here and attack this thing with a division game up this week."
Liam Coen on OT Anton Harrison
(Note: Harrison is out for the season with a knee injury)
"Bummer for Anton and our team. I've been very proud of Anton, and [he] will be sorely missed. I really felt like Anton had been playing really good football. You know, really all in with the group, his buy-in, his attention to detail, the way he'd been playing. I was very proud of Anton, the way he was playing for us, and so we'll miss him without a doubt.
"But was extremely proud of [Harrison's replacement] Walker Little and the way that he played on Sunday against Houston. Stepped up in both the run and the pass. Did some really good things for us, and no flinch, no blank, next man up mentality, and so excited about him and his opportunity. And there's not many guys that care more than Walker in a lot of ways about this team and about this group of guys. So, and still feel like we have you know good depth at the group and the offensive line room in general."
Liam Coen on CB/WR Travis Hunter's usage
"We're not going to over-rotate. We want to continue to build. There's a lot of games left in the season and so we want to make sure that we're continuing to build on the right trajectory that gives us the best chance to win on Sundays. And so we've won a lot of games with him not playing 100 snaps. You saw his impact and effect on games where he is playing more. And so, it's to me, it's about the team, it's about the group. He's no different, and he's going to continue to help us win on Sundays."
Liam Coen on Jaguars running game
"I think efficient in a lot of ways. I don't think it's been … overly explosive in a lot of ways. We went into [the season] want to be able to get some of those hard yards that were missing at times last year. I am excited about it. I think our backs have done a really nice job … where it might look like a zero-yard gain or a negative. They have turned those into positives in a lot of ways. It's more some of the ones that are blocked very clean that we have bigger opportunities. We need to continue to make the most of it and get some more of those 15-, 20-yard runs. It truly takes all 11 [players]. Our wideouts block their tails off out on the perimeter, and we've got to be able to continue to get more out of some of the runs that are blocked up properly. The one thing I do know is that it's physical … those guys are running physical.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars coach Liam Coen 'excited' about team getting back to work after bye
