Four weeks into the NFL season, the Jacksonville Jaguars have shown notable improvement under Liam Coen. They just trounced the San Francisco 49ers and are beginning to turn heads. That said, several analysts aren't jumping into the Jags bandwagon, and understandably so.
The Jags are a young team, with a first-time head coach in Coen. Not surprisingly, there's a bit of skepticism surrounding their early success.
The Jaguars need more of Trevor Lawrence to earn the media's trust
John Breech of CBS Sports put together a list of three potential contenders he doesn't trust and included the Jaguars, arguing that they may not make noise in 2025 unless Trevor Lawrence makes a leap under Liam Coen.
"First, let me just say that Liam Coen has been fantastic during his first year on the job," Breech wrote. "The Jaguars offense looks revitalized and Coen made a brilliant hire at defensive coordinator in Anthony Campanile, who has completely turned around that unit. The Jaguars have already forced 13 turnovers through four weeks, which is more than they forced during the ENTIRE 2024 season (nine)."
Breech continued, "The Jags biggest problem is that Trevor Lawrence still hasn't taken a big step forward under Coen. And their other problem is that they're about to get a reality check from their schedule. The Jags next three games are against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Los Angeles Rams. If they win just ONE of those, maybe I'll be a believer, but for now, I think they'll be on the outside looking in at the end of the year."
Four weeks into the 2025 season, Lawrence has completed 58.3 percent of his throws for 845 yars with five touchdowns and four interceptions. While those numbers aren't bad, they could certainly be better. In fact, you could make the case that the passing game is the Jags' weakest link right now. Then, again, there are reasons to believe he can hit his stride later in the season.
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Trevor Lawrence is making strides but has his work cut out
Liam Coen was certainly pleased with Trevor Lawrence's performance in the Week 4 win over the San Francisco 49ers, noting that the fifth-year quarterback fared well early on but left a bit to be desired in the second half.
"I thought, if you look at the first half, he was dialing, I mean, he was getting the ball out accurate, much improved on the outbreakers on, really, both to his left and to his right," Coen responded when asked how he would assess Lawrence's play in the win against the Niners (4:17 mark). "We did miss a few ops in the first half on a couple down-the-field shots."
Coen continued, "And then in the second half, it just kind of started slow, right? We did. We missed the throw to Travis on the left side. Then, the uptick in penalties. And so then the operation gets a little bit jacked up, and you just saw maybe some of the misses, right? He'll say, and we've got to continue to, 'All right, what exactly, conceptually, could continue to find completions?" But to not turn it over, and to continue to put us in the right position in terms of running the football."
Later in the exchange, Coen says that No. 16 has lots to build off of moving forward.
"He's been phenomenal with the protections, the schemes, getting us in the right protections, but I think it was a step in the right direction in a lot of ways. And he can clean up some of the things from the second half. It's very correctable. And then, you know, making a play at the end of the game obviously, wanted to get out of bounds. Of bounds, but then makes the play to Hunter, long, big-time moment, so a lot to build off of," Coen said.
Coen is right. Lawrence can improve, and if he does, the Jaguars will be hard to stop and turn into a legitimate contender.