Coen Talks the Day After Week 15 Win Over Jets: "You Have to Respect Each Opponent…"

Dec 15, 2025 at 04:41 PM

John Oehser

Jaguars Senior Writer

JACKSONVILLE – The focus remains on the now.

Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen on Monday looked beyond a fifth consecutive victory and ahead to the upcoming weekend – focusing not as much on playoff ramifications as the opponent and the situation.

This is a big week in the AFC. A very big week.

"You think about football, you think about going and playing a game like this," he said.

Coen spoke Monday at his weekly next-day media availability, a day after a 48-20 victory over the New York Jets at EverBank Stadium – a dominant performance featuring a huge day from quarterback Trevor Lawrence that enhanced their surging playoff hopes.

The AFC South-leading Jaguars (10-4), winners of 6 of 7 games, remain seeded third in the AFC and will play the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos (12-2) at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., Sunday. The Broncos hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

"We all came here with a job to do and so we're executing that to the best of our ability and that's why we're in the position we're in," Jaguars safety Eric Murray said. "It's definitely encouraging to see the pieces that we brought in and the people that we brought into gel like this."

The Jaguars on Sunday remained in first place with one of their most one-sided victories of the season, scoring on 8 of their first 9 possessions while sacking Jets quarterback Brady Cook 3 times and intercepting him 3 more times.

Lawrence also registered his third consecutive game without an interception and with a passer rating over 100, throwing a career-high 5 touchdown passes and rushing for another while running back Travis Etienne Jr. caught touchdowns of 20, 8 and 45 yards on 3 receptions.

Lawrence was not sacked Sunday, marking the Jaguars' second consecutive game without allowing a sack – and the fifth this season.

"A lot of times yesterday you were calling a play and very much so expected it to work," Coen said. "That's a good feeling for all of us to have. That's a cool part, when you're feeding off each other. Those guys did execute some stuff and we protected very well in the pass game.

"That is a nice feeling for all of us. You know you can keep calling it because they're not getting home as much and we're doing a great job. That allows those routes to continue to develop and get a little bit more open and the quarterback to continue to have the trust to let it rip."

The Jaguars lead the South by a game over the Houston Texans (9-5), who have won 6 consecutive games, and 2 games over the Indianapolis Colts (8-6) – losers of 4 consecutive games.

"You have to respect each opponent, because this league is just so competitive and coaching is so high level," Coen said. "It's hard to get too carried away with who's ahead, who's behind, where are we? You really don't have time for it.

"If you do, if your mind's going there, then we're not really internally focused and then that takes away from what we're trying to do."

The Broncos, who made the postseason as a wild card last season, lead the AFC West by 2 games over the Los Angeles Chargers and hold the AFC's No. 1 seed by a game over the AFC East-leading New England Patriots. They have won 11 consecutive games and lead the NFL with 58 sacks.

"That's a good football team," Coen said. "I've been following them and had a lot of crossover tape with those guys. I've watched them execute at a high level from afar and defensively, they do a really nice job. This is darn good opponent, going on the road.

"Mile High is a really cool place to play and compete at. This is going to be a really good challenge for us."