The Jaguars chose to rest nearly all of the main starters from the unofficial depth chart and instead turned the focus to first- and second-year players in the preseason finale. 37 players sat out the game. And just like he said, this game against Miami saw those “fighting for a roster spot” compete. However, the Jaguars couldn’t keep up, falling 14-6 to the Miami Dolphins in the preseason finale.

Speaking after the loss, head coach Liam Coen explained that the team will need to improve moving forward. With a few weeks left before the season opener against the Carolina Panthers, he had a strong message for the locker room. “From now until Carolina, there needs to be continued improvement. But I am proud of this team and the way that they compete, the physicality… That continue to show up,” he said. He added that the team went against Miami’s offensive starters, making it tough for them in the early part of the game. “Competed really well. Made it hard on ’em early on,” he said.

It seems that the Jaguars are fired up for the season opener against the Panthers. Perhaps the team had already been preparing itself for it. With the starters sitting out, the Jaguars’ threes and fours got a great opportunity to step up. Now, as Jared Feinberg noted from the Jaguars’ practice session before the preseason finale, Coen and Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence spoke about the Dolphins’ defense, specifically how they disguise their coverages through alignments and safety placement. He felt it was very similar to what the Panthers do.

“They do a nice job with man alignments and playing zone and zone alignments and playing man. So, you can displace the tight end or the running back and they’ll…actually we call it mask coverage, where they’re showing you one thing and on the snap of the ball, it changes,” Coen said. Ejiro Evro had tried the strategy before, and Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver might try it again with intriguing additions on the roster. Now, Feinberg admitted that both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dolphins came to his mind. But the fact that the Panthers also use the same strategy, and the Jaguars are already working on ways to counter it, makes things fascinating.

With Tre’Von Moehrig on the roster, the Panthers now boast an impressive defense, made even stronger and more complex under Weaver compared to last year. The Jaguars might not fully realize it, but their matchup against the Dolphins may have already been preparing them for the clash against the Panthers.

While this might just be an assumption, Coen and Lawrence, as they mentioned, have set huge expectations and standards for themselves, and they’re working hard to live up to them.

Trevor Lawrence had a demand for his teammates

Lawrence made it clear. During a game against the New Orleans Saints, the QB showed a brilliant approach to the game by staying calm after making a mistake. On the Jaguars’ opening drive, Lawrence slipped while trying to hand the ball to Tank Bigsby, and it popped loose right into the hands of Saints rookie Vernon Broughton at the 12-yard line. However, he didn’t let that distract him.

He calmly handled the situation, completing 8 of 10 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. One of his two incompletions was even a drop. More importantly, the Jaguars’ offense clicked under him, averaging 7.6 yards per attempt and making two trips into the red zone. After the game, he didn’t dodge the tough questions.

“Operation, you know, penalties, a lot less of those to start out in the first couple drives. So, I think from that standpoint it was a lot better,” he said. Later, while wrapping up the night, he had some strong words for the locker room. “We’ve done some great work in camp and (and are) really just taking it one day at a time. We’re at that phase now with the joint practice this week in Miami, which will be great to go against a different defense. We’ve been going, battling against our defense all of camp, so it’ll be nice to see something different and have to adjust and see how the guys respond to that…,” he noted. The Jaguars are focused to fix all the issues this year.

The Jaguars now clearly have a better idea of how to face the Panthers’ defense, which makes the season opener on September 7 even more exciting!