Cheerio, old champs! The Los Angeles Rams are taking a trip to Wembley Stadium in London to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7. Both teams sit at 4-2 and are making a playoff push in their respective conferences. Anything goes in this oddball of a season.
Before flying to England (in spirit) this weekend, I spoke with Gus Logue from Big Cat Country to get the inside scoop on the culture change Liam Coen has brought to Jacksonville, Trevor Lawrence, the Jaguars’ turnover-hungry defense and more.
Q – The Jaguars are coming off a tough loss to the Seahawks, a rough encore following the Monday night thriller over the Chiefs. Regardless, could you talk about the culture that first-year head coach Liam Coen has brought to Jacksonville?
A – Sunday’s game was certainly a deflating one, but 99% of Jaguars fans would’ve been thrilled about a 4-2 start no matter how it happened. Coen has implemented a culture of physicality and resiliency that has shown up on the field more often than not.
Multiple times during the offseason, he used the acronym F.A.S.T. (Fundamentally sound, Attacking, Situational masters, and Toughness) to describe what he looks for from his team. You can probably check the boxes for “Attacking” and “Toughness”—especially for the defensive side of the ball—but the Jaguars haven’t been “Fundamentally sound” or “Situational masters” on a consistent basis. The offense has had multiple red zone turnovers, the defense has allowed multiple game-winning/clenching drives, and pre-snap penalties have been a recurring issue.
There’s still plenty of work to be done, but with that said, the Liam Coen era has begun as well as we could’ve hoped.
Q – Trevor Lawrence has had some on-and-off performances in his first year with Coen calling the shots. What are some of the things that Lawrence has done well in Coen’s system and where does he need to improve most?
A – Lawrence has always been good at avoiding sacks and executing timing-based pass concepts. That’s carried over this season. In the past two games, his out-of-structure playmaking was very encouraging (and necessary, going against Steve Spagnuolo and Mike Macdonald). Lawrence is starting to use his legs more—he has 20 attempts over the past three weeks—which has helped the offense stay afloat amid a regressing offensive line and out-of-sync receiver room.
The first thing he needs to improve upon is consistency. For as many passes that remind us why he was drafted first overall, there are just as many decisions that make Jaguars fans want to rip their hair out. He also has a handful of blatant misfires each game, with balls usually being thrown too high. And Jacksonville’s downfield pass game has been a disappointment, partly because Coen wants to scheme up deep balls with play action from under center. Lawrence is still much more comfortable operating from shotgun than having to turn his back to the defense.
Q – The Jaguars went from having one of the NFL’s worst defenses to showing plenty of improvement under new defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile. How has Jacksonville turned into such a turnover magnet under Campanile, and what areas do the Rams need to attack most this week?
A – The largest tangible shift that I can point to is coverage types. According to Fantasy Points data, Jacksonville deploys zone coverage at the NFL’s fourth-highest rate this season (79.7%) after running the league’s second-highest rate of man coverage last year (41.3%). Defenders have made more plays on the ball as a result. The 2024 Jaguars ranked dead last with 9 takeaways; the 2025 Jaguars lead the league through six weeks with 14.
Obviously, the improvement isn’t as simple as coverage tendencies. Devin Lloyd is having a breakout contract season, while Jourdan Lewis and Eric Murray are providing much-needed veteran stability to the secondary. And Campanile deserves more credit than anyone. His pressure packages have confused opponents and created easy pass rush lanes, which is the biggest reason for the defense’s numerous turnovers and overall turnaround.
Q – Who is one player on offense that L.A. fans should keep an eye on over the pond this week? What about on defense?
A – On offense, I’ll go with left tackle Walker Little. He (and the rest of the offensive line) is coming off a brutal performance against the Seahawks, in which the Jaguars allowed Trevor Lawrence to be pressured on 25 dropbacks. That’s the most in a game since 2022. Little specifically allowed a team-high 4 sacks and 6 pressures, per PFF. That is not good—especially with Jared Verse on deck!
On the other side of the ball, keep an eye out for cornerback Montaric “Buster” Brown. He had two nice pass breakups last Sunday, plus another against Patrick Mahomes in Week 5. The Jaguars just swapped Tyson Campbell for Greg Newsome—but the latter allowed a 61-yard TD on his first snap as a Jaguar. Brown is well-regarded by the organization and should continue to rotate in with Newsome and Travis Hunter. Jacksonville’s biggest defensive weakness this season has been its inability to contain opposing WR1s, so it’ll be all hands on deck against Davante Adams (and Puka Nacua, if he plays).
Q – What is a question that you have for Rams fans entering this matchup?
A – What questions/concerns do you have about Sean McVay, if any? Coen has given off some McVay vibes through his first few months on the job. Like his former boss, Coen appears to have the goods as a culture-builder in addition to being a whiz kid offensive playcaller. But there have also been some game-management issues, and I have the sense that Coen is a control freak to the max. (Which is at least better than being lazy—looking at you, Press Taylor.) Perhaps any qualms that Rams fans have with McVay could foreshadow how Jaguars fans feel about Coen.
Beyond that, are you ready to watch the stupidest game of your season? The Jaguars are experts at forcing turnovers, committing penalties and surviving on third-down production. They haven’t played anything close to a clean game since stomping Carolina to start the season. Add in the emotions of the game, with Coen and James Gladstone facing their former team, this game could be sloppy.
