The Jacksonville Jaguars are walking into this season with a problem plenty of teams would love to have: after a 13-4 breakout and an AFC South title, the real test is no longer whether they can surprise people. It’s whether they can do it again.
That has been the wall for this franchise for a long time. Since 2000, the Jaguars are one of only three teams that have not reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
They’ve made the postseason in 2005, 2007, 2017, 2022 and now 2025, but they have never turned one playoff year into the next. In a league built to create constant turnover and fresh hope, that’s the one box Jacksonville still hasn’t checked.
Now comes the next chance, and the setup is as favorable as it’s been in years. The Jaguars return nearly their entire starting lineup from last season’s team, and the group that finished with eight straight wins is largely intact. The most notable departures are running back Travis Etienne and linebacker Devin Lloyd, who were allowed to sign with the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers, respectively.
Even with those changes, Jacksonville has mostly stayed the course. The backfield is young, with Chris Rodriguez Jr. entering his fifth year but still without a start, and second-year players Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen, Jr. in the mix. The team also passed on adding a veteran situational pass rusher, betting that Josh Hines-Allen will get off to a better start and Travon Walker will stay healthy after last season’s issues.
At the center of it all is coach Liam Coen, who now has the kind of reputation that travels fast in this league. The Jaguars believe they have one of the NFL’s best play-callers steering the offense, and Coen isn’t interested in anybody thinking last year’s surge bought them anything.
“We’re not in a place (where we can) hang out and just kind of chill, right?” Coen said.
He doubled down on that point with a line that fits exactly where Jacksonville is now.
“Our mindset is, we have to go prove it and go earn it because consistency is the truest measure of performance," Coen said.
That’s the entire assignment. Not flash.
Not a one-year spike. Consistency.
The numbers around the league say that kind of leap is hard to sustain. Since the 16-game season began in 1978 and then expanded to 17 games in 2021, only 10 teams have improved by at least nine wins from one year to the next. The Jaguars did it last season, jumping from 4-13 to 13-4, while New England also joined that group with an 11-win improvement to 14-3.
But the year after a huge jump has a way of turning messy. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the cleanest example of how it can still work: 6-10 in 2003, 15-1 in 2004, then a Super Bowl title in 2005.
But among the first eight teams on that list, only four reached the playoffs the next season, and none of them won more games. Some fell off fast, including San Francisco in 2020 and Miami in 2009.
Jacksonville is trying to avoid that kind of slide. The Jaguars are one of only four franchises that have never played in a Super Bowl, and since 2000 they sit with Cleveland and Washington as the only teams without consecutive playoff appearances. That’s not the kind of company anyone wants.
Still, this version of the Jaguars looks built to keep pushing. Coen is back.
General manager James Gladstone is back. Executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli is back.
Defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile brings another layer to the staff, and the roster has enough talent to make the case that last season wasn’t a fluke.
The offense has options everywhere: tight end Brenton Strange, receivers Jakobi Meyers, Parker Washington, Brian Thomas Jr., and even Travis Hunter. But the identity they want is sturdier than a highlight reel. They want to run the ball better and play with a harder edge, the kind of offense that “puts their work boots on, hitches up their belts and kicks defenses in the teeth.”
On defense, the goal is to be “stickier” in coverage, and early-down resistance is already a calling card. The Jaguars return what the source calls the league’s best rush defense, which gives them a base to build on while the rest of the season gets tricky.
And it will get tricky. From Sept.
28-Nov. 28, Jacksonville plays only one home game, Nov. 1 against Indianapolis.
That stretch includes four true road games - Cincinnati, Baltimore, Tennessee and the New York Giants - plus two games in London against Philadelphia and Houston.
So yes, the path won’t be smooth. The schedule won’t do them any favors. But the Jaguars have put themselves in the rare spot of trying to turn a one-year burst into something sturdier.
Coen, Strange and the rest of this group know what’s at stake. As Strange put it: “It’s about sustained success,” Strange said.
“That’s the only thing we want to do. We just want to keep being successful for this city and for this organization.”
In Other News...
Jaguars Just Opened The Door For A Bigger Move Than Fans Expected
The Jaguars created a little more breathing room in their payroll by restructuring Josh Hines-Allens contract, converting $5.7 million of his 2026 base salary into a signing bonus and opening up $4.56 million in cap space for this season. It is the kind of move teams often make when they want to stay nimble, and for Jacksonville it comes with a clear purpose: give the front office more room to maneuver as the year unfolds.
General manager James Gladstone said the adjustment was designed to provide financial flexibility for possible roster additions or extensions down the line. Jacksonvilles cap space now sits at $14.22 million, a healthier position than earlier in the offseason, and it leaves the door open for something bigger if the right opportunity surfaces. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Fans Are About To Get An Unusual NFL Season Start
The NFL is shifting its 2026 regular-season start to Wednesday, Sept. 9, an unusual change prompted by a scheduling conflict with the leagues first regular-season game in Australia, which will air in the U.S. the following day. For Jacksonville fans used to the familiar Thursday-night launch, it means the new season will arrive a little earlier in the week than normal, with Seattle hosting New England in the opener.
It also keeps the football calendar moving in a way that should feel familiar enough for fans around here, even as the timing changes. College football already got underway on Saturday, Aug. 29, with Florida State opening its season, and Florida is set to play Sept. 5, so the stretch from late summer into early September is already packed before the NFL even gets its first whistle. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Suddenly Changed Course Behind Trevor Lawrence For One Big Reason
The Jaguars made a quick pivot behind Trevor Lawrence ahead of cutdown day, sending a 2028 sixth-round pick to Miami for quarterback Quinn Ewers. The move gives Jacksonville a new No. 2 quarterback and reshapes the depth chart at a spot the team wanted to stabilize before the roster deadline, with Nick Mullens no longer on the active roster after being released.
James Gladstone praised Mullens for the way he handled the situation, noting his professionalism and value to the team as Jacksonville kept him around on the practice squad. For the Jaguars, the transaction was less about the price tag than the protection it provides if Lawrence ever needs help, and it leaves one of the more interesting backup-spot decisions of the summer in a new place. [Read more 🡒]