WATFORD, England — Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen can — and will do — better.
That was his message to offensive players and assistant coaches on Oct. 12, a day after the Jaguars beat the Philadelphia Eagles 19-17 despite the unit’s 10 penalties, including three for delay of game.
See why the Jaguars players like working with/playing for Coen so much?
He wants them to be accountable so he will be, too.
He wants them to grind away on their mistakes so he will, too.
And he wants them to have a growth mindset so he will have that approach, too.
“It’s always great hearing your head coach and play caller talk about every situation,” quarterback Trevor Lawrence said after practice on Oct. 14 at The Grove. “Obviously for the guys, we understand what
happened and there are things we have to clean up as players. Having a coach who does that, it makes it easier for the players to take ownership.”
The Jaguars twice reached the Eagles 1-yard line (once in each half) but scored no points. They faced a second-and-40 on their first series. They had eight rushes that gained 1 or fewer yards. Yes, they gained 408 yards, but the entire game felt like a tooth extraction.
Starting on the postgame bus ride from London to Watford, Coen went right to work. He was ready when he met with his staff and players the next day.
“We had a great offensive meeting where we just had really good, honest and open (communication) showing some of the guys where I can help them and where I can be better as a play caller and where we got to execute better as well,” Coen said
Breaking down the penalties
Coen’s message?
“(I said), ‘Hey, guys, I can help you out with my play call (and) maybe shorten it up and trim the verbiage (and maybe) call something a little more simplified down there in that end zone specifically where it got loud on those critical downs,’” he said.
A shorter play call will lead to the Jaguars breaking the huddle earlier.
A less complicated play call could lead to better execution.
The Jaguars had three delay of game penalties in all of 2025 (18 games), but already have four this year in five games (one at Cincinnati and three vs. Philadelphia).
Coen said he showed “a ton of clips,” to the coaches and players, including the television copy which displayed the play clock.
The first delay of game was on the first drive and contributed to the aforementioned second-and-40.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter.
First up is a play call Coen was likely referring to as being too fancy.
After tight end Brenton Strange’s 27-yard catch to the Eagles’ 1, the Jaguars were late (the play clock was at six seconds when they broke the huddle) to get lined up and Lawrence called timeout.
Out of the timeout, Lawrence lined up wide left and running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. was in the wildcat formation to receive the direct snap. The pro-Eagles crowd was raucous and left tackle Walker Little was called for false start. Lawrence punched his fist in the air in anger.
Two plays later, on second down from the 4, the Jaguars were again late out of the huddle and called for delay of game. Lawrence received the snap and spiked it into the turf in disgust.
After a Lawrence incompletion, another delay of game penalty.
Of getting the play in late, Coen said he told the players: “That’s not giving you a chance; that’s not giving you guys the best chance to succeed and that’s on me.”
Most coaches would never own the mistake publicly, right? They would make it a team mistake and say everybody must get better. Blah, blah, blah. Not Coen. He wanted to make it known any criticism should start with him.
Coen also hit the bullseye when he said it’s always better to have a truth hurts meeting after a win.
“Look, it’s always great to learn,” he said. “You learn from each opportunity, right? It’s always better to win. But I think our guys are mature enough to understand where we could have been better, specifically on offense in the red (zone) when you have one of your higher yardage totals (408).”
The ideal scenario for offense
I asked Lawrence how much time should be left on the play clock when center Robert Hainsey and the rest of the offensive line reaches the line of scrimmage.
“Typically, you would like to be breaking the huddle with about 20 seconds,” Lawrence said. “It’s not always realistic. It’s a good feeling when you can break at 20 and get a chance to look at the defense. In some situations, it’s not realistic because there are a lot of factors that play into it.”
The Jaguars were slow … so they had to speed up. All in a stadium that Coen said was one of the loudest he had been in recently. Did the Jaguars underestimate how their “home” game had turned into Philadelphia East? Possibly, and it should serve as a learning lesson for next year when the Jaguars play abroad. It may be their “home” game, but if they play a popular team, the Jaguars will feel like visitors.
Hainsey said Coen’s meeting was “super productive,” and then provided the kind of insight only center can.
“It’s all of us in so many ways,” Hainsey said. “It’s me getting the huddle set. It’s all the guys getting back to the huddle. It’s the coaches getting the call (in). It’s Trevor making the call. And it’s getting up there (to the line) and getting set so the defense has to get set so the communication can happen and if we need to change anything, we can change anything.
“We’re talking about something small (in time), but I just named like 14 things that have to go very well to make it perfect.”
And then, just like Coen did earlier in the day, Hainsey hit the target.
“The best part is, those are things in our control that we can handle as players and coaches together to make it easier for us,” he said.
The Jaguars will have a tough enough time against the Houston Texans’ defense on Oct. 18. Self-inflicted mistakes like seven false starts, four delay of games and two illegal shifts must be eliminated or at least limited to extend their winning streak to four games entering the bye.
And they know it.
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays ("First Coast Football Friday" 4-7 p.m.).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars coach Liam Coen points finger at self for too many penalties
