JACKSONVILLE - A nine-game regular-season winning streak is over, and Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen is pointing to the practice field as part of the reason why.
The Jaguars dropped to 1-1 Sunday after a 20-13 loss to the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, a defeat that saw Jacksonville produce just 56 yards of offense after leading 13-3 in the third quarter. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw a third-quarter interception that led to the tying touchdown, and kicker Cam Little missed a 54-yard fourth-quarter field goal attempt as Denver scored on three consecutive possessions and ran out the final 4:41 of the game.
“We have to move on and respond; that’s what it really comes down to,” Coen said Monday.
Coen did not spare the week of preparation from scrutiny, telling reporters the Jaguars “didn’t have our best practices last week on Thursday and Friday, specifically on the defensive side of the ball.” He said there “were a little bit too many completions happening” and that the scout team “had a little bit too much time.”
“It’s a clear line for our team to see, like, ‘Guys, practice matters,’” Coen said. “If we don’t dominate practice it’s going to be really hard to go dominate an opponent and go play a high-level opponent. I know it’s CoachSpeak, but if we don’t do it throughout the week of practice, it’s not going to just happen on Sunday.”
Cornerback Jarrian Jones, who played 62.9 percent of defensive snaps in Denver as part of the team’s cornerback rotation, said the loss carried a useful lesson. “I think that it was good for this to happen,” Jones said. “Now we have to hone in on us. It’s all about us, and if we execute and commit to our play style and things we do, it’s going to be hard to beat us. I think it was good we had a wake-up call like this.”
Jones was direct about the team’s performance. “We didn’t earn the right to win,” he said. “We left too many plays out there. If you talk to anybody on the team, I don’t think anybody in particular played their best game.”
Center Robert Hainsey framed the loss as an opportunity. “It’s the NFL; you’re not going to win every game,” Hainsey said. “And what you can take from it is, ‘Where can we get better? Where can we improve the plan? Where can we improve as individuals?’”
The cornerback rotation in Denver included Travis Hunter at 59.7 percent of snaps, Montaric Brown at 79 percent, Jones at 62.9 percent and Jourdan Lewis at 51.6 percent. Coen said the rotation is deliberate and pre-planned, adding the group also needs pass-rush help. “We have to get to the quarterback to help those guys out as well in the back end,” he said.
Coen also addressed younger players directly, telling them the NFL regular season offers more margin than college football. “This isn’t the college football playoff where you lose in Week 2 and you might not make it,” he said. “We have a lot of games ahead of us.”
The Jaguars host the defending AFC East and AFC Champion New England Patriots at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville on Sunday.