Liam Coen didn’t duck the blame after the Jaguars’ latest issues with the clock. On Wednesday, the head coach said the delay of game penalties in last Sunday’s win over the Eagles were “directly on me.”
That matters because the Jaguars had chances to seize control of the game before the final stretch, and they let the moment slip. A Trevor Lawrence throw to Brenton Strange set Jacksonville up at the Eagles’ 1-yard-line with less than nine minutes remaining, but the drive unraveled from there. The Jaguars used a timeout before the next snap, then came a false start, a short run, two delay of game penalties wrapped around an incompletion and, finally, a failed fourth-down try that ended the possession with nothing on the board.
There was another delay of game earlier in the first quarter, and Coen said he can do more to keep the offense on schedule when the noise rises and the situation gets tight.
“That was probably one of the louder atmospheres I’ve been in a while,” Coen said, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. “Especially in those critical moments to where, ‘Hey guys, I can help you out with my playcall.’ Maybe shorten it up, trim the verbiage or call something a little bit more simplified down there where it was in that end zone specifically that got loud and some of those critical downs.”
Jacksonville finished with 13 penalties against the Eagles, matching the 13 it committed against the Bengals in Week 4. The Jaguars won both games, but the repeated discipline issues are the kind of thing that can eventually bite them if Coen doesn’t get the operation cleaned up.
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Jaguars Fans Have A Bigger Brian Thomas Jr. Concern Than Trade Buzz
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Through five games, Thomas has just nine catches for 105 yards and one touchdown, production that does not match the expectations surrounding a player the Jaguars still appear willing to build around. Even with outside interest floating around, Jacksonville has not signaled any desire to move him, leaving the bigger question focused on whether the breakout still comes in time for the season to matter. [Read more 🡒]
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From Jacksonvilles perspective, that makes the trip to Houston feel winnable, especially with Barzilla also pointing to defensive injury effects that have complicated the Texans balance on that side of the ball. He flagged a few under-the-radar names worth watching and still called for a tight game, but his slight edge goes to the Jaguars, which says plenty about how much Houston still has to clean up before this rivalry feels settled again. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Hurts Finally Explained What Jaguars Fans Noticed In London
Jalen Hurts was dealing with more than the usual pregame buildup when the Eagles showed up in London, and the explanation helped clear up something Jaguars fans had already noticed from across the field. Hurts said he injured his calf in the Week 4 game against the Rams, which put a little more context behind the cautious way he managed the lead-up to Week 5.
His delayed arrival on the field was part of the plan, he said, with the goal of keeping the calf warm and giving it rest before kickoff. Even with the injury note on Philadelphias report, Hurts still participated fully in practice, which made the situation look more like a maintenance issue than a true limitation, though it was easy to see why anyone watching in London would wonder what was going on. [Read more 🡒]