The Jacksonville Jaguars fell to the Miami Dolphins 14-6 in the team’s final preseason game. Head coach Liam Coen decided to rest his starters for the game, and while he likes what he’s seen overall from the team, he recognizes that there is still a lot of work to be done.
That shouldn’t come as a shock for a team that won four games in 2024.
“Yeah, we still got to continue to get better; there is no doubt,” Coen said following the Miami game. “We cannot waste a single moment, second, minute, practice, walk-through, meeting – cannot be wasted. We need to improve from now until Carolina; there needs to be continued improvement.
“But I am proud of this team and the way they compete. The physicality in which they play with… if we can start there and have that as a standard, that continues to show up every time we compete, I’ll live with that.”
Liam Coen says that tough roster decisions need to be made
Just like every NFL team at this time of year, the Jaguars will have to make some tough cuts today. It’s time to get the roster down to 53 players and that’s never a fun day for anyone (except the guys that make the team…for now).
Coen said that these decisions won’t be easy.
“So many of these guys, like I told them last night, have been a part of creating our edge and who we are as a team,” Coen said. “So those decisions aren’t easy at all, especially as a young coach doing it for the first time, really. Those conversations aren’t easy. The decisions aren’t easy.
“But I believe some guys probably helped themselves out tonight in some ways, whether it’s for our team or somebody else’s team, and ultimately you want it to help guys continue to further their dreams as well as make our roster as competitive as it can be.”
Liam Coen avoided a tough cut by making a trade with Philly
One of those difficult cuts was probably going to be offensive tackle Fred Johnson, whom they traded to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday for a seventh-round pick. Johnson signed a one-year, $1.137 million contract this offseason, but was apparently expendable because the Jags like their current crop of tackles.
Interestingly enough, Johnson shut down Trey Hendrickson last season if anyone is scoring at home.
“Filling in at left tackle for the injured Jordan Mailata, Johnson shut down one of the most feared pass rushers in the NFL and then got a chance to swap jerseys with him after the Eagles’ 37-17 win over the Bengals,” wrote Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
“I think I did good,” Johnson said of his battle with Hendrickson. “A lot of things to improve on. A lot of things to celebrate. But back to the drawing board this week, watch the film, get it corrected and move on.”
The Jaguars were hoping that Johnson could be a swing tackle for them, but that didn’t work out obviously and it’s now one less tough conversation that Coen has to have.
Jacksonville Jaguars’ Liam Coen Talks About Roster Cuts