John Oehser
JACKSONVILLEThe idea is to keep improving and not waste energy comparing.
Jaguars Head CoachLiam Coensaid that's a theme for the coming season, saying at this week's NFL 2026 Annual League Meetings that the Jaguars can't worry about what happened in 2025. Nor can they focus on matching the record from that season.
The focus must be the future, which must be judged on its own.
Coen, speaking at the annual AFC Coaches breakfast at the Arizona Biltmore Tuesday morning, said being a better team in 2026 doesn't necessarily mean matching a 13-4 record in 2025.
The Jaguars in Coen's first season as head coach won their final eight regular-season games in 2025, winning their first AFC South title since 2022 their third in the last nine seasons. They will begin their 2026 voluntary offseason program April 20, with the program beginning two weeks later this offseason than last.
Teams with first-year head coaches can begin their offseason programs April 6.
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Coen also this week discussed fourth-year veteran linebackerVentrell Miller, who entered the 2025 season as a co-starter with Devin Lloyd, who was named Associated Press second-team All-Pro last season and who signed with the Carolina Panthers as an unrestricted free agent last month. Miller, a fourth-round selection by the Jaguars in the 2023 NFL Draft, started two of 17 games played in 2025 after starting nine the previous season and registered 27 tackles in 2025 with four passes defensed. He also had 11 special teams tackles in 2025. "There's a lot of room for growth there," Coen said. "When Ventrell was asked to play a lot of meaningful snaps last year, we saw some really good things and then there's some things we can continue to coach off of. Right now if you're him and we haven't signed anybody yet, you should say, 'Well, at least they believe in me. At least they think I can do it.' Now it's on him and us to go do it together but also like, 'Dude. Now, it's time. Now, it's time to truly go take it over.' There's going to be an opportunity there and I think Ventrell is made of the right stuff and I think he cares enough about it from a we-above-me standpoint that he's going to put the time in to do it and I'm excited about what that could look like."
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Coen on Jaguars nose tackleDaVon Hamilton, a key reason the Jaguars led the NFL in run defense in 2025:"He doesn't say a ton. He just does his job to the best of his ability every single day without saying a word of negative or anything. He cares about 'we above me.' He cares about all the right things. A lot of his job is selfless and helping others, helping get other people freed up in the run game. He's disruptive. I mean he made huge plays in the backfield for us. He's just getting better and better."
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