Jaguars’ Coach Questions Turf at Wembley Stadium
It’s no secret that the Jacksonville Jaguars struggled defensively in their second test overseas.
Facing the Houston Texans in Wembley Stadium on Sunday, the Jaguars (4-2) allowed quarterback C.J. Stroud to captain a sharp offense that put up 34 points, leading to a 3-point loss for Jacksonville.
Jaguars coach Liam Coen gave insight into the defensive shortcomings at his weekly news conference Monday.
And while he noted his team’s performance on the defensive side was subpar, he wasn’t quick to place all the blame on his players. Coen said he’s noticed through practices and last season’s game that the field at Wembley Stadium tends to give the offense a boost against defenses.
“That surface definitely has an offensive mind,” Coen said. “We missed more tackles than we have in previous weeks, both pass rushes on those sides we saw guys slipping out of there, official fell down … it doesn’t have to rain out there for it to be slick, and then it did rain, so it made it more slick. And you saw some of the effects of it.”
Both teams recorded zero sacks and combined for five quarterback hits, pointing toward an outside problem impacting two teams that haven’t struggled much to get to the quarterback through the early part of the season. However, where the Jaguars faltered more than Houston (2-4) was in the explosive plays the Texans executed with Stroud’s time in the pocket despite the conditions.
Houston finished with 312 yards in the air and had one 50-yard catch and another costly 42-yard grab in the contest. Stroud went 24-of-34 passing for 312 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
“They did a good job of getting the ball out,” Coen said. “We can do a better job as coaches in helping settle them down with some of the communication and calls and being able to limit some of the inventory to just be able to go and continue to do what we do best.”
Jacksonville’s run defense, though, was more concerning than its pass rush, more so because of the team’s continued success in the department. Over the past two seasons, the Jaguars have emerged with one of the premier run defenses in the NFL, and the Texans found more success against it than most.
The Texans put up 114 rushing yards against the crew, the most of any team this season. They averaged 4.6 yards per rush compared to Jacksonville’s 3.9.
“They got more runs on us than normal, and that’s something that we take pride in,” Coen said. “It’s one of the pillars of our defense, but when you get the ball thrown over your head at times, now that allows for the whole playbook to be open as an offensive play caller, and those are some of the things that showed up. It definitely wasn’t our standard, that’s for sure. Good humbling day.”
Back in the States and with an open week ahead, the Jaguars will use the time to smooth out some of the things that led to the loss.
Jacksonville eyes a strong showing when it returns home for the first time in a month against the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.
“Being fundamentally sharp throughout the course of the week … and then situational football are things that we can absolutely work on throughout this little break,” Coen said. “Playing clean in terms of the self-inflicted things, whether it’s fundamentals and techniques of blocking and playing coverage and man coverage.”
Category: Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL
