JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Liam Coen has been preaching all offseason about finding a way to start games faster.
The solution: play the Cleveland Browns.
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That’s only half joking. The Browns aren’t the ideal measuring stick for success, but the Jaguars historically played down to their competition. They didn’t do that in Week 1. Jacksonville looked and played elite in stretching their regular season winning streak to nine games.
The Jaguars started as quickly and efficiently as they have in Coen’s tenure on Sunday, blending strong defense with a rattlesnake-fast offense in a dominant 34-10 win in the regular-season opener. Jacksonville had an interception on Cleveland’s third passing attempt of the game and scored on a beautiful throw from Trevor Lawrence to Parker Washington. That start was an offseason in the making.
“I think the guys came out and tried to do what we asked them to do in terms of starting fast, played some complimentary football, which I also was harping on. Taking advantage of obviously, the opportunities that we had with some of the turnovers,” Coen said.
“Was it perfect? No, by any means, a lot to clean up and coach off of, some technique and a couple things that we need to continue to work on and coach on. But I was pleased with their energy, the way that they executed some situations, and jumped out to a fast start, which is something that we’ve really been harping on.”
The starting fast is something that Jacksonville has emphasized throughout the offseason. The Jaguars invested significant time in training camp trying to have Lawrence get the ball downfield with major air yardage. In Sunday’s win over Cleveland, Lawrence’s intended air yardage per pass attempt was 10.5, an exceptionally high number. The league average is between 7 and 8. That number is used to indicate how often a quarterback attempts to take a shot down the field. Lawrence has averaged between 7.4 and 9.3 air yards per attempt in his career.
“It is impressive to be off schedule and play creatively when it is very challenging in the preseason, in training camp because you don’t get so many reps at that. The whistle blows quicker in training camp, as you know, and he’s sitting there in a red jersey every day. And so, it was great to see him be able to play off schedule, extend plays,” Coen said.
“All right, the play’s not over just because maybe in timing and rhythm, it wasn’t there or he had to move off his spot. That is great for us to have this early on in the season, as we know, it was such a weapon for us towards the back half of last year. It was great to see.”
A few of Lawrence’s throws were from stepping up or moving around the pocket, or playing off script. He also spread the ball around as good as he ever has. Lawrence attempted passes to 10 different receivers and connected with nine of them.
“Yeah. I mean, I think that’s how football should be played, right? Everybody eats,” said receiver Jakobi Meyers. “It’s hard when there’s one person out there trying to do everything and people know who to focus on, you know? And defenses, once they figure that out, they try to take it away. And they’re good at it too. Everybody eating, that’ll keep us unpredictable.”
Thumping the Browns (0-1) is one thing, but finding that same success in Week 2 will require a bit more. Jacksonville heads to Denver to face the Broncos (0-1), who are coming off a blowout loss to the Chiefs on Monday night. Playing at Mile High Stadium shouldn’t be as daunting as it felt last year when Lawrence and the Jaguars toppled the 14-3 Broncos 34-20 to end Denver’s 11-game winning streak.
