The sting of a playoff exit is felt in the locker room, but for the Jacksonville Jaguars, the real story began after the final whistle. In the AFC Wild Card matchup, the Jaguars fell to the Buffalo Bills 27-24 in a back-and-forth battle that stayed tight until the very end. However, this loss sparked two very different conversations: one of defiance from running back Josh Hines-Allen and another of bizarre encouragement for the head coach, Liam Coen.

“This team was special and proud Of everything we accomplished,” Josh Hines-Allen wrote in an X post after the Wild Card game. “There is always going to be a reason why we lost and never when we win. Break that down!”

The Wild Card loss will obviously spark endless breakdowns about what went wrong with the Jaguars. That’s how the media usually works. But Josh Hines-Allen challenged the media to think differently. He questioned why the conversation always centers on why the Jaguars lost and not on how they’ve won. 

While Josh Hines-Allen made it clear that he’s proud of what the Jaguars have achieved this season, he wants the focus to shift toward the positives this group can still take away from a tough ending. After all, this was not a small step forward.

The Jaguars finished 13-4 in the regular season, won the AFC South, and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2022. Still, Jacksonville’s 2025 season ended in heartbreak. Jacksonville’s quarterback Trevor Lawrence had a mixed night. He recorded 207 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, and added 31 rushing yards on six carries. But while his performance looked encouraging, his two interceptions also proved costly for the Jaguars.

Lawrence first threw an interception in the first quarter of the game. Then, on the very first play of the Jaguars’ final drive, he got picked off again to end the game. Earlier, Jacksonville also had a chance to tie the score before halftime, but Cam Little missed a 54-yard field goal wide left.

Josh Hines-Allen’s team did find success on the ground against Buffalo’s banged-up defense as they rushed for over 150 yards and averaged 6.7 yards per attempt in the game. Jacksonville’s running back Bhayshul Tuten picked up 51 yards on just four carries, while RB Travis Etienne added 67 yards on 10 attempts. But while the Bills struggled to stop the run most of the game, the Jaguars did not lean into it throughout the Wild Card game. 

Despite the mistakes, the Jaguars continued to fight late into the game. Early in the fourth quarter, Trevor Lawrence found receiver Parker Washington for a 6-yard TD that helped the Jaguars take a 17-13 lead. Momentum seemed to be shifting, but then Bills’ QB Josh Allen came through for his team again.

Allen put the Bills back in the lead, 20-17, as he connected with tight end Dalton Kincaid for a 15-yard TD. Then, Trevor Lawrence responded with just over four minutes left in the game, as he connected with Etienne for a 14-yard TD to give Jacksonville the lead again. But just before the two-minute warning, Allen also connected with wide receiver Brandin Cooks for a 36-yard gain and finished the drive with a 1-yard TD run, a play in which Jacksonville essentially let him score.

Then came the final blow for the Jaguars, as with under a minute left, Bills defensive back Cole Bishop intercepted Trevor Lawrence on the first play of the Jaguars’ final drive. And just like that, Jacksonville’s season was over. But as the Jaguars processed the playoff exit, the post-game interaction between their head coach, Liam Coen, and a local reporter took the spotlight.

Liam Coen has an unexpected interaction with a reporter after the Jaguars’ Wild Card loss

Heading into the Wild Card game, Jacksonville had an eight-game winning streak and the No. 3 seed in the AFC heading into the playoffs. So, the 27-24 loss that ended Jacksonville’s season was clearly difficult for first-year HC Liam Coen. As such, during the post-game press conference, a local reporter named Lynn Jones addressed Coen with words of encouragement. 

“How y’all doing today?” Lynn Jones said to Liam Coen. “I just want to tell you, ‘Congratulations on your success, young man. You hold your head up, alright, as you guys have had the most magnificent season. You did a great job out there today, so you just hold your head up, okay? Ladies and gentlemen, Duval, you’re the one. Keep it going, we’ve got another season. Take care and much continued success to you and your entire team.’”

Jones asked Liam Coen to be proud of doing a great job with the Jaguars in his young coaching career. Coen, for his part, appreciated the pick-me-up message from Jones as he replied, “Thank you, I appreciate it.” 

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Before Liam Coen took over the Jaguars, they were coming off a 4-13 season with a defense that ranked 31st in the league and a struggling QB in Trevor Lawrence. But, in his first year in Jacksonville, Coen helped Lawrence grow as a leader of the team as he finished the regular season with 4,007 yards, 29 TDs, 12 INTs, and a passer rating of 91.0. So, as Coen sparked a turnaround in Jacksonville, the Jaguars can head into the 2026 season knowing they have progressed.