Liam Coen bounded onto the stage ready to present an hour of non-stop talk about “offensive ball” to hundreds of high school coaches attending a clinic at the University of Florida’s indoor practice facility on March 27.
This wasn’t going to be a run-game demonstration. No way. Coen, the former UMass quarterback and current Jacksonville Jaguars coach/play-caller, was all about the pass game that morning. And big pass plays. Lots of them.
“Getting explosives, man, is one of the best feelings,” Coen said.
Coen wants more of those “best feelings” this year for the Jaguars, who open the season Sept. 13 against the Cleveland Browns.
The Jaguars majored in exploiting the middle of the field last year, taking advantage of receivers Jakobi Meyers and Parker
Washington.
But …
“Our challenge is we have to get the ball outside the numbers more, too,” Coen told The Times-Union before training camp. “If people are leaning inside on us, we have to be able to throw the deep out (route) more.”
The Jaguars ranked 12th in passing yards per game (222.3) and per play (6.3) last year, but their completion percentage of 55.3% was 19th. Their 57 completions of at least 20 yards were tied for seventh and their six of at least 40 yards were tied for 22nd.
The next step for quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the entire offense? More accuracy down the field.
“Super important,” Meyers said. “If teams don’t respect you (deep) and don’t have to back up, it’s going to make throwing underneath a lot harder. The goal is to be well-balanced.”
Many attempts, not enough completions
For days, weeks and maybe even months, Coen had been thinking about the opening play call of the opening game of the 2025 season against the Carolina Panthers.
And he wanted a chunk play.
Receiver Brian Thomas Jr. lined up wide left and got a step on the cornerback down the left sideline, but Lawrence’s pass 24 yards downfield was underthrown and fell incomplete. It may have been a 65-yard touchdown.
That was kind of how it went for Lawrence during stretches of last year. Coen gave him opportunities to throw down the field, but with sub-optimal results.
Including all parts of the field, Lawrence on passes that traveled at least 20 “air” yards according to Tru Media:
- Among the top 20 quarterbacks in yards passing on such attempts, Lawrence ranked second in attempts (79) behind only the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford (85).
- Lawrence completed only 28 of those attempts (tied for seventh-most), for a completion rate of 35.4% (19th).
- Lawrence’s 827 yards ranked ninth, but his four touchdowns were tied for 17th.
- Lawrence’s 10.5 yards per attempt on those 79 passes was second-lowest, ahead of only Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes (34.4%).
More numbers …
According to the Times-Union’s game charting, Lawrence had 57 regular-season completions of at least 20 yards. Thirty of those completions traveled at least 20 “air” yards, including the aforementioned four touchdowns: Thirty-four yards to Travis Hunter (Rams), 21 yards to Brenton Strange (first Titans game), 20 yards to Travis Etienne (Jets) and 23 yards to Washington (second Titans game).
Lawrence had only 10 such completions in the first 10 games, but 17 over the final seven, which should be considered an encouraging development.
Individually, Washington was the leader in catches of at least 20 “air” yards (11), followed by Thomas (six) and Hunter and Strange (three apiece).
“The challenge for all of us in our offense is how can every part of the field be a threat?” Lawrence said after practice on Sept. 9. “The guys have taken ownership of that. Some of the different plays we’ve been able to put in and the different route combinations and the way guys have run them and got open have showed they can do all of that.”
Coen was encouraged by what he saw during the offseason program and training camp practices.
“In the spring, I think it definitely improved,” he said last week. “(It) started off in training camp as well and then things always level off when you’re playing your defense and they see it and know what’s happening. And it’s always based on the team you’re playing.”
Lawrence-Thomas connection critical
The thing about a deep shot is so many things need to fall into place.
The coverage needs to cooperate. The receiver needs to win his match-up. The pass protection needs to hold up. And the quarterback has to make an on-the-money throw. If it was so easy, it would happen more often, right?
“For sure,” Thomas said. “You just have to take what the defense gives you and they won’t always leave that open because it’s something they don’t want to give up. You have to stay patient and your time will come.”
Lawrence and Thomas are the key in making sure the Jaguars are able to horizontally stretch their vertical passing game.
Last year, Thomas had 11 catches of at least 20 yards. His longest catch (46 yards to set up the winning field goal over Houston in Week 3) was a 13-yard throw. He later had a 34-yard catch in Week 9 at Las Vegas (19 post-catch yards).
If the Jaguars can run the football with more effectiveness, that could suck a safety closer to the line of scrimmage and create 1-on-1 perimeter chances for Thomas.
“We’re going to need it,” Coen said. “I do feel better about it. We all have more confidence right now with being able to get the ball down the field.”
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 (4-7 p.m. on "First Coast Football Friday").
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Next step for Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence: Downfield accuracy
