Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen isn't anticipating a repeat of Week 1 for the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
"We know how they're going to respond," Coen said at the start of the week ahead of their road trip to Denver.
While the Jaguars played lights out against the Cleveland Browns, cruising to a 34-10 win, Denver's showing — a 31-10 loss — against the Kansas City Chiefs was less than stellar.
The Broncos, who ranked 10th in total offense in 2025, totaled just 176 yards, including 115 total net passing yards and 61 rushing yards. They converted just nine first downs and turned the ball over twice, losing one out of three fumbles and tossing an interception.
Defensively,
the Broncos' run defense was similarly lagging. After ranking second (behind the Jaguars) against the run last year, allowing just 91.1 yards per game on the ground, the Broncos gave up 220 yards to the Chiefs.
Kansas City didn't have to lean on their passing attack, totaling 184 yards and two touchdowns through the air, taking away one of Denver's strengths last season, getting after the quarterback. Last year, the Broncos totaled a league-high 68 sacks.
They got to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes just twice on Monday.
Liam Coen anticipates quality from Broncos, points inward
Coen isn't anticipating a repeat of Week 1 for Denver this week. He's also not anticipating a replay of Jacksonville's Week 16 win over Denver from a season ago.
Ultimately, though, the week of preparation is more about Jacksonville than it'll be about the Broncos and their less-than-stellar Week 1 performance.
"So much of this week is truly about us. It is. I mean, we have to be aware of their good players and their good schemes and their good coaching, but also going into this atmosphere, the communication, both verbally andvisually, guys being on their screws," Coen explained.
"I told them this morning that we have to know this plan so well that you know what the guy next to you is oging to be able to do without having to say it to him or talk about it. That's how well we have to be commected this week."
The Broncos finished their 2025 campaign with a 10-7 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. Their 14-3 regular-season record earned them a first-round bye as the top seed in the AFC last year.
"But, everybody's different. Our players are different, and so you've got to set it up fully expecting and anticipating them to play their best as well. That's kind of what we're anticipating, and knowing that we didn't run it great against them last year, and so those are some things we're obviously having to look at," Coen said, referencing Kansas City's 200-plus rushing yards against the Broncos in Week 1.
"Well, how did Kansas City set things up? Does that match things that we do? If not, OK, can we go back and look at last year and try to find anything that could help us in this game formationally, personnel, motions, different schemes, whatever it may be?" Coen explained before mentioning the team will look for balance this week.
Jaguars, Liam Coen ready for brutal schedule away from home
The Jaguars will play four of their next five games away from Jacksonville, including two games across the pond in London. Starting this week, they'll travel to Denver, return home for a week before traveling to Cincinnati in Week 4 and London for Weeks 5-6.
Excluding the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams, the Jaguars will have traveled the most of any team in the NFL up to their Week 7 BYE. The team will travel roughly 12,674 air miles, accounting for more than half of the team's estimated travel distance total this year (23,392 miles).
For perspective, 10 teams in the league will travel fewer miles through the air than Jacksonville will over the next five weeks alone. Coen has prepped his team for the intense schedule.
"Just being honest, like, 'hey guys, if you're a part of this organization right now, this is the reality. This is our truth,'" Coen said of his remarks to the team about the impending schedule.
"This is our reality and nobody in this league and in this fanbase, nobody's gonna care at the end of the day. It's not going to be an allowed excuse or an allowed reason because the results are what they are at the end of the season. Your record's your recorod, and nobody's going to look at it and say, 'oh, well, they had to go play a lot of games away from home," he continued.
Coen said his approach was one of honesty in front of his players, speaking to them this week about the schedule. Instead of worrying about it, Coen is anticipating the team using it to their advantage — make it a bonding experience.
"It's good for us to be connected. It's good for us to be around eachother and to keep learning and growing together," said Coen.
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @Demetrius82 or on BlueskyatDemetrius.
If you're a subscriber, thank you. If not, please consider subscribing to support local journalism in Northeast Florida.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' Liam Coen anticipates rebound in play from Denver Broncos
