The 'stink' the Jaguars are trying to get rid of in Year 2 with Coen
· Yahoo Sports
Year 1 for the Jacksonville Jaguars under Liam Coen was a major success. There is no questioning that. But as Coen detailed recently during the NFL league meetings, the Jaguars can't let winning cover their "stink."
After winning just four games in 2024, Coen would lead the Jaguars to 13 wins and the AFC South title in 2025. This included ending the regular season on an eight-game winning streak.
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However, those successes don't mean that there aren't improvements to be made either.
"Winning is a fantastic deodorant: It covers up what stinks about you," Coen said. "It covers up what your blind spots are, what your negatives, what your areas of improvement are, and if we can attack those areas with humility, with honesty, with a relentless pursuit to improve those areas, we'll still continue to work on the areas in which we were good and we need to hone in on those things."
"Winning is a fantastic deodorant: It covers up what stinks about you. It covers up what your blind spots are.”
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) March 31, 2026
Coach Coen on improving through humility, regardless of last year’s performance. pic.twitter.com/5Vgyf7NhCb
Some of that stink that the Jaguars are attempting to rid themselves of was the lack of balance on offense. As Coen noted, the run game shouldered the workload early on in the season, but faded down the stretch.
Last year, the Jaguars ranked 27th in yards per rush. From Week 10 on, there were five games where Etienne failed to rush for over 60 yards. The running lanes that were there early on were hard to find down the stretch.
Trevor Lawrence and the red-hot passing game continued to put up points, but having a steady run game to couple with the aerial attack could take this offense to a new level.
"We're always looking for better balance on offense," Coen said. "I think the run game the first eight weeks of the season really kind of carried us offensively and allowed us to win some of those games. The pass game in the second half of the season really allowed us to go offensively. So we have to create a little bit more balance there."
Some of the stink defensively that Coen wants to address is ensuring that there is a balance between the pass rush and coverage on the back end.
While the Jaguars boasted the NFL's stingiest run defense last season, Jacksonville ranked 18th in pressure rate and 27th in sacks.
"Defensively, just continuing to find that balance between rush and coverage and being able to play a couple different coverages on the back end, couple different front structures, or pressures that you're looking at," he said.
One element that can help the Jaguars improve in these areas is the continuity that they have this year compared to last. Relatively speaking, the Jaguars haven't experienced much roster turnover, while Year 2 within an offensive and defensive scheme can provide a jumping off point for those units with strong foundations established.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: 2 areas Liam Coen wants Jaguars to improve in 2026