Even though the Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2, wide receiver Parker Washington came through, hauling in five receptions for 72 yards on six targets. Unfortunately, his strong outing in the 37-27 loss didn't carry against the Houston Texans.
Washington was targeted nine times in the win over the Texans but only caught four passes for 34 yards. Some of that was due to Trevor Lawrence's inaccurate throws, but the third-year receiver was also credited with two key drops, so some of the burden most definitely falls on him.
But despite his rough Week 3 outing, head coach Liam Coen is confident Washington will help the Jaguars.
The Jaguars still believe in Parker Washington
Liam Coen met with the local media ahead of the Week 4 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers., and said that the team isn't giving up on Parker Washington, noting that he's done nothing but work hard.
"I have not lost any confidence in Parker by any means. You know, stuff happens," Coen told the media (9:38 mark). "It's not obviously something that we're excited about in the moment. But he took full, he takes a lot of responsibility and accountability, works his tail off every single day. Like I said, he literally had his best week of practice last week as a Jag since we've been here. So there's a lot of confidence. Really."
Coen continued, "The message to him is, dude, like, we got to move forward, man, you're putting some really good stuff on tape. You're practicing. You're doing all the right things, man, those things will come, and hopefully that was just a one-off."
A sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft, Washington didn't get much playing time early as a rookie but saw an uptick in opportunities once Christian Kirk suffered a season-ending injury. Something similar happened last year.
Kirk once again got hurt in 2024, and Washington filled in for him. He finished the year with 32 receptions for 390 yards with three touchdowns. Jacksonville traded Kirk to the Houston Texans in the offseason, which paved the way for the former Nittany Lion to have a bigger role in 2025. He took advantage of his chances in training camp and made a strong bid for a featured role.
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Parker Washington must now repay the Jaguars' trust
Liam Coen said something important in his media availability session: he isn't worried about Parker Washington as long as he delivers moving forward. And that's the thing, the Jaguars aren't fretting about the Sugar Land, Texas native because he's come through in the past. Having said that, the new regime has shown that it's not afraid to keep underperforming players on the sidelines, so he'll need to bounce back.
With Dyami Brown's status for Week 4 up in the air, Parker Washington will get another chance to prove he can be a key cog on offense. It will be up to him to make the most of it.