Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen recently sat down for a 40-minute media availability
at the NFL’s annual owner meeting.At one point, he was asked if being compared to others can weigh on a high draft pick, and whether he’s noticed Travon Walker feel bothered by comparisons to Aidan Hutchinson.
“I haven’t personally seen that,” said Coen. “I’m sure that those [comparisons] are natural, but, I don’t know. My conversations with him one-on-one, I’ve never heard him bring it up or say, ‘I’m not
living up to,’ or, ‘I need to do this because of status.’
That’s a good answer. Coen could’ve left it at that.
Instead, he continued: “I had an almost two-hour meeting with him at the end of the season. Just what that looked like in terms of dominating. You know, I was with Aaron Donald in L.A., and we literally had to take him out of practice in order for us to gain yards on offense. And so, if you want to get where you want to go, and where we want you to go, and where you can go, I need to be taking you out of practice so that we can operate on offense. I want that kind of destruction and mindset and mentality. And he was on the same page about it.”
Hold up. Coen batted down the question regarding comparisons to Hutchinson, just to mention Walker in the same breath as Aaron freakin’ Donald? 10-time Pro Bowler, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, and Super Bowl champion, Aaron Donald?
The reporter who asked immediately followed up for clarification. “Seems like that could be… I mean, that’s a hard comparison… Whenever you mention Aaron Donald, one of the best defensive-”
Coen cut him off. “Habits. Habits. It’s because of his habits.”
“That was what I was teaching him, his habits. Not talent, not anything about their length and size and anything that way. It’s just habits. Elite habits, elite practice preparation, game preparation, that. Those habits. The way that you practice on a day-to-day basis. I’d better be taking you out of the practice for us to operate. You should disrupt the entire thing in order for us to operate. I want that.”
The Jaguars believe Walker has the potential to be, in a word, unblockable.
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