JACKSONVILLE – First, they earned it. Then, they performed.

That's the story this week of defensive end Danny Striggow. And defensive end B.J. Green II. And tight end Quintin Morris. All played key roles for the Jaguars this past week, and all figure to contribute moving forward.

As first-year Head Coach Liam Coen sees it, that's a very good thing.

"It's the epitome of what you want your team to be," Coen said.

Coen said that's because the trio – along with multiple other Jaguars players – showed this past Sunday how players can work their way from small roles to big roles by first "playing their asses off on special teams" and practicing well.

Striggow, Green and Morris contributed significantly to a 35-6 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday:

• Striggow, who signed with the Jaguars as a collegiate free agent following the 2025 NFL Draft, played 10 snaps Sunday and shared a sack with veteran defensive end Travon Walker in the second quarter. He also had 2 quarterback hurries. Striggow, after being inactive in Games 1-5, played on special teams the next 4 games and has played defensively in 4 of the last 5 games.
• Green, also a collegiate free agent following the '25 draft, played 7 snaps Sunday with 2 assists and had a sack negated because of a roughing-the-passer penalty. Green, after being inactive in Games 1-3, has played special teams in the last seven games and on defense in four of those games.
• Morris, who spent his first three NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills before beginning this season on the Jaguars' practice squad, played 50 snaps Sunday with one reception for 11 yards. Morris was elevated to the active roster from the practice squad via standard elevation in Games 2-4 and was signed to the active roster before their Week 5 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

"Those guys have earned it," Coen said. "That's what it should be. That's how it has to be and that's how you earn time here. They've earned it in practice every single day and it showed up on Sunday where these guys are impacting the game in a positive way. And they earn those opportunities and that's the way our team needs to continue to build off of."

NOTABLE

• Rookie running back Bhayshul Tuten on Sunday registered his most productive game of the season, rushing for 74 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries – and keying a game in which the Jaguars rushed for 192 yards and four touchdowns on 47 carries. Tuten's 4-yard touchdown run on the final play of the first quarter gave the Jaguars a 7-3 lead they never relinquished. "Tute ran hard," Coen said. "He ran downhill. He did a really nice job. He has been practicing better and better, and as much as we can continue getting him involved the better our offense is."

NOTABLE

• Part of the Jaguars' success running Sunday came on "middle-toss" plays, with running back Travis Etienne Jr. and Tuten each producing on such plays. On a "middle-toss" play, the quarterback tosses the ball to the running back rather than handing off – and rather than running to the outside, as is usually the case on a toss play, the running back cuts immediately toward the middle of the line. "It just gets the ball back a little bit deeper to them immediately," Coen said. "It gets the ball in their hands with more depth than just maybe a handoff does sometimes. It gives the defense maybe an illusion that it's going wider than it is. It creates a misdirection inside that gets their (the defense's) eyes a little bit dirtier than you're really making it. It was a good job by our offensive line coaches and run-game guys coming up with a scheme and our players going and executing at a high level."

QUOTABLE

• Coen on Jaguars guard Ezra Cleveland, who returned Sunday after missing the loss to the Texans with a knee/ankle injury: "Really proud of Ezra. We needed him. He responded. He's violent. He's one of our most explosive players on the team. He showed that in the offseason workouts. Ezra wants to play with a mean streak and kind of beat you in a phone booth. He has the opportunity to do that. He can beat you on the second level. He had some great finishes on some runs down the field, especially late in that game on the last drive where he was finishing guys 5-to-7 down the field. We needed him. He stepped up in a big way. We're going to continue to need that moving forward from Ezra."