‘This isn’t the College Football Playoff’: Why Liam Coen isn’t panicking after Jaguars loss

T he Jacksonville Jaguars walked off the field in Denver on Sunday with plenty of reasons to be frustrated. They had squandered a 13-3 second-half lead. They managed just 56 yards of offense after halftime. Trevor Lawrence threw a costly interception that helped swing momentum, and the defense allowed the Broncos to score on three consecutive possessions in a 20-13 defeat.

Yet when head coach Liam Coen addressed his team afterward and met with reporters the next day, his message was remarkably clear: one loss does not define an NFL season. "We have to move on and respond; that's what it really comes down to," Coen said Monday.

That mindset was best captured by a phrase Coen used while discussing the team's outlook following its first defeat of the 2026 season. "Especially some of the younger players, rookies," the coach said, "this isn't the college football playoff where you lose in Week 2 and you might not make it." The comment may have sounded simple, but it revealed a great deal about how the Jags' boss wants his team to handle adversity.

A different reality than College Football

In college football, particularly under the old playoff structure, an early-season loss could dramatically alter championship aspirations. Even with the expanded playoff format, every defeat carries enormous weight. The NFL is different.

A 17-game schedule is designed to test consistency, resilience and the ability to adjust over time. Teams are expected to absorb setbacks. Even the league's elite contenders rarely navigate a season without disappointing performances. That perspective is particularly important for a Jaguars team that entered Sunday's game riding a nine-game regular-season winning streak.

For many of J acksonville's younger players, the Broncos game may have served as a reminder that success in the NFL is fragile . The margin between winning and losing is often just a handful of plays. "We all kind of took our turns," Coen said of the loss. As cornerback Jarrian Jones put it even more bluntly: "We didn't earn the right to win."

The Jags beat themselves as much as Denver beat them

What likely frustrated Coen most was not simply that Jacksonville lost. It was how the Jaguars lost . The game appeared to be under control when Jacksonville took a 13-3 lead in the third quarter. From there, however, mistakes piled up.

Lawrence's interception led directly to a game-tying touchdown. Cam Little missed a 54-yard field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter. The offense failed to sustain drives late in the game, and Denver closed by controlling possession for the final 4:41.

Rather than pointing fingers, Coen emphasized collective accountability. "We have to be extremely accountable to each other, to the things obviously we could improve on or where we fell short," he said. That same accountability was echoed throughout the locker room. "It's the NFL," center Robert Hainsey said. "You're not going to win every game."

One of Coen's more revealing observations involved the days leading up to the game. The second-year head coach said Jacksonville did not have its sharpest practices late in the week, particularly on defense. According to Coen , some of those issues carried over directly into Sunday's performance. The message was straightforward: preparation matters.