JACKSONVILLE – They're good. The idea is to get great.

The Jaguars took significant steps toward that Monday, with Head Coach Liam Coen sending the message to his team – and players absolutely hearing that message – on a day of high-profile acquisitions and reiterated goals.

This team is among the NFL's best. More is needed.

"The message was how great do we want to be?" Coen said Monday morning as the AFC South-leading Jaguars (6-2) began preparing to play the Tennessee Titans (1-7) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday.

"The pursuit of it all every single day, starting with today out on the grass with a bonus Monday, how great do we want to be? That was the challenge."

Consider the challenge accepted, and the message received.

"We have to keep pushing to get better, actively working on the things we need to work on," Jaguars rookie tight end Nate Boerkircher said Monday.

The Jaguars on Monday acquired three high-profile defensive players via trade:

• Defensive tackle Jordan Davis from the Philadelphia Eagles for a first-round selection in the 2027 NFL Draft and a 2029 second-round selection.
• Safety Jessie Bates III from the Atlanta Falcons for a 2027 second-round selection and a 2028 fifth-round selection.
• Defensive tackle Davon Godchaux from the New Orleans Saints for a conditional sixth-round selection.

Coen spoke to the media shortly after the Bates trade became official and before the trades for Godchaux and Davis. The comments also came days after a 33-10 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football – a solid performance, though not a perfect one from the Jaguars' perspective.

"That's kind of the message this week is, 'Was anybody really satisfied with that win Thursday night?''' Coen said. "It's good to get the win, for sure, but not a lot of guys, I don't think, were ultra just satisfied with the win and for four quarters."

Coen's words to the team Monday were as much about the need to keep ascending as they were about trades.

"I feel like in the profession that we're in, everybody wants to be great," Jaguars safety Antonio Johnson said Monday. "And then you're going into the season having high hopes of making big strides from what we did last year and then, coming to the season, playing well, sitting nice within the division, and just having a good record right now."

The Jaguars' best has been tough to beat in the last two seasons, with victories over Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Drake May of the New England Patriots, Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers, Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals – all Super Bowl quarterbacks.

The Jaguars' two losses this year have been by a combined 10 points, with each loss being marked by missed late opportunities.

"When you go back and look at our games, a lot of it has been self-inflicted wounds," Johnson said. "For us to get over the hump and get to where we want to get, we have to be able to look each other in the eyes and look ourselves in our eyes and be able to perfect what we've got going on.

"It's us versus us before it's us versus anybody else. I think that's more so the message than just us being great. That's how we get to become great is making sure that we're honing into our own details before we worry about anybody else."

The Jaguars on Thursday outgained the Ravens, 319-227, taking a 17-3 halftime lead. They pulled steadily away much of the second half with three field goals by Cam Little pushing the lead to 26-3 and a two-yard run by Chris Rodriguez Jr. making it 33-3 midway through the fourth quarter.

"We won, obviously, a really good game against the Ravens and we did some good things, but there were a lot of things that we didn't do and we need to fix those things," Johnson said, with Coen adding, "That's the beauty – that we get to keep coaching."

"They get to keep getting coached and applying and chasing and pursuing greatness," Coen said. "Not asking them to go just be great on Sunday. I'm asking them to be great today, tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, the whole week, and everything that we do, how much can we continue to press that button and challenge one another, players, coaches, and staff alike?"