![Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Cole van Lanen (70) stretches during the Jaguars final Organized Team Activity on Monday, June 15, 2026 at the Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_339,y_160,w_689,h_387/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ReutersImages/mmsport/55/01m23bhavmwp3b9fcat4.jpg "Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Cole van Lanen (70) stretches during the Jaguars final Organized Team Activity on Monday, June 15, 2026 at the Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]")
When the Jacksonville Jaguars activated Cole Van Lanen from the Physically Unable to Perform list in August, it was a sign that he was trending toward being back from a knee injury he sustained late in 2025.
And heading into the season opener, head coach Liam Coen offered an update on Van Lanen.
Cole Van Lanen will be a game-time decision for the Jaguars game vs. the Browns
Liam Coen met with the local media ahead of Week 1 of the regular season. He stated that Cole Van Lanen will be a game-time decision, noting that the team wants him to do some work before giving him the thumbs up.
"Yeah, I think it'll be a game-time decision. I would imagine working him out for the game and seeing what that's going to look like," Coen said (9:34 mark). "Just using every op we can to get him to potentially be ready to go. So we'll kind of take it all the way up till game time with that one. You want to get him in. You want to be able to get him some work, get him some reps, get him feeling confident in a game-like setting, missing the joints and all those kind of ops that our other guys obviously had throughout the training camp."
Coen continued, "But I've really liked his mindset. I've liked the way he's attacked, putting himself in maybe precarious positions and owning it, man, 'I wasn't great when that happened,' or man, 'I felt really good when I got stuck, and I was sideways,' so those I think he's been very intentional about that and has been fearless with putting himself in some of the positions that he has throughout the course of practice, so I've really appreciated that, and then we'll see what it looks like on Sunday."
Van Lanen spent the offseason recovering from an injury that was rumored to be an ACL tear. He missed the offseason program but joined the Jags for the latter part of training camp. The fact that the former Wisconsin Badger didn't start the season on the PUP list was a sign that he's close to being a full-go. However, he may still need a bit of time before he's back in the fold.
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The Jaguars may want to hold out Cole Van Lanen vs. the Browns
Cole Van Lanen played multiple spots across the offensive line in 2025 before settling at left tackle. However, Anton Harrison is now Trevor Lawrence's blindside protector, so Van Lanen will tentatively start at right tackle once he's back. If he isn't good to go against the Cleveland Browns, though, Walker Little will fill in for him.
Little struggled at left tackle last year, but has ample starting experience and has position versatility, so he should do just fine if he's thrust into action. If Van Lanen isn't 100 percent, Jacksonville will be better off holding him out to avoid exposing him to further injury risk.
The Jaguars would love to have all hands on deck when they face the Browns, but this is a long season. They can definitely afford to let Cole Van Lanen fully heal for this one.
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