JACKSONVILLE – The message isn't changing, and that is because it is working.
The Jaguars, after a one-sided home victory over the New England Patriots in Week 3, are preparing for another key early-season AFC game Sunday – this one on the road. Head Coach Liam Coen's theme entering the week remains consistent and clear.
The Jaguars' focus must simply be on the Jaguars. Again.
"That's really going to be the message all week again – is less about them, more about us," Coen said Wednesday as the AFC South-leading Jaguars (2-1) prepared to play the Cincinnati Bengals (2-1) at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sunday.
The message worked last week against the Patriots, with the Jaguars dominating all three phases in a 35-6 victory over the defending AFC champions. It is the same message Coen and the Jaguars' locker room are stressing this week.
The formula has been shown to them, and it works. Now they must keep following it.
"If we can just focus on ourselves, we're the ones that's playing the real game," Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen said Wednesday. "If we start worrying about external stuff, then you know that gets to clouding our judgment and how fast we can play, how fast we're reacting to things.
"If we can just hone into ourselves, our body, our calls, what we have to do within the calls, we will be fine."
The internal focus is perhaps most relevant when the Jaguars are on defense facing the challenge of All-Pro wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who caught 14 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown in the Bengals' 31-27 come-from-behind victory over the Jaguars in Week 2 last season.
As Coen said of Chase, he "is going to get his," but the Jaguars must then focus on themselves and the ensuing play.
"Goldfish mentality, right? That's what it has to be, though," Coen said. "You know he's a potential Hall of Famer. And so is he going to make some plays? Absolutely.
"So much of this week, similar to last, is it's about our response. It's about the way that we bounce back and the way that we continue to respond, both collectively as a team and then individually throughout the game.
"It's like, 'Man, all right, he makes a play.' Who cares - all right, let's go.' "
The Jaguars while going 15-5 in their 20 regular-season games have focused heavily on the task at hand no matter the challenge or obstacle that week.
"We are our biggest critics," Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. said Wednesday. "We know what we can do. We know what we have got to go out there and do. We feel like if we go out there and do what we do and play how we play, we feel like nobody can beat us."
Said Coen, "It's any given Sunday; anything can happen regardless of record and past histories. Everybody is pretty good. You have to have a game plan, but we have to go play and it's about blocking longer, tackling fundamentals, but also our best players and our guys, we have to go make some plays, too."
NOTABLE
The second season under Coen has brought plenty of improvement for the Jaguars, from the passing game to the defense to the rushing attack. But perhaps the biggest leap they have made is in terms of penalties. The Jaguars, after finishing the 2025 season as the NFL's second-most penalized team, are tied for the third-fewest penalty yards this season. "Year 2 helps," Coen said. "Being in the same system on both sides of the football, all three phases – especially with some of the pre-snaps, motions, shifts, cans, going from one play to the other, having more continuity and chemistry within that. From a leadership standpoint, that was a huge emphasis going into training camp was the self-inflicted wounds and some of those things. We have a hard enough time lining up and beating an opponent. If we consistently put ourselves at a disadvantage, we're obviously not giving ourselves the best chance to be successful on Sunday."
