HEAD COACH LIAM COEN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2025
(On DT Arik Armstead’s back injury) “I mean, he’s a veteran who, ultimately, he’ll probably
know how to get himself ready to go. I would hope. The key is just making sure that he’s
healthy and ready to go for the first game, and, ultimately, it’s a long season as we know.
Now not to say that early ones aren’t obviously as important as late ones, but it is a long
season, and we’re really just trying to get him to be as healthy as possible.”
(On if Armstead will be ready to play Week 1) “I would think so. I would think so. It’s hard for
me to say right now, though.”
(On the lack of depth in the interior defensive line due to injuries) “We just signed [DL]
Austin Johnson. So made a nice play already in the team run today. So, brought in some
depth and competition. We’ll continue to get those guys some great reps. I felt like I felt the
D line a little bit more today, impact, whether it was in the run game or in some of the
protection stuff. I just kind of felt more of a presence in a rush. So, that was encouraging
and it’s great to get those guys some reps, but we absolutely need to continue to improve.”
(On impact of CB Jourdan Lewis) “I mean, as you guys see, it’s every day, something. It’s
every day, it’s making a play. There’s only so much, within a scheme that you can teach and
coach. Ultimately, they have to go out and make plays and he just continues to be a steady,
consistent professional that communicates at a high level. He brings calmness to our back
end, a playmaker to our back end and a great leader for the guys to be able to continue to
listen to back there.”
(On the progress of Lewis since OTAs) “I mean, the guy, it’s every day. I mean, you guys have
seen how many diving, either pass breakups or interceptions he’s had. I had so much
respect for him coming in. When we played him in Tampa this year, he made an
unbelievable interception that basically sealed the game in their favor. He’s just come here
from the moment we sat down and talked in my office from then till now. It’s been exactly
what he has said he wanted to do and what we also wanted from him from a veteran leader,
professional, show some of these guys the way, and he’s taken that role on, and ran with it.”
(On DB/WR Travis Hunter playing offense and defense in practice) “Four minute stuff. We
weren’t playing in any 11 personnel. He’s still learning 12 personnel other positions so that
he can continue to get in some of those personnel groupings, because he plays the F in 11
to go and play the Z in 12. It’s just another added learning curve that we need to continue to
work on. I think he’ll say he was probably a little bit more tired than he usually gets. I
thought he still showed up, made some plays across the middle as he’s kind of continued
to do and it’s just good to get into that habit. We mentioned we wanted to get to this point
of post scrimmage, just starting to let them roll in between racks to get him some extra
work.”
(On if Hunter switching between offense and defense in practice will become normal) “Very
similar. It might not be every single day, but I would say it would probably be a little bit more
normal than not.”
(On how much the starters will play in the game Saturday) “Not yet. We’re still working
through it. We wanted to kind of get through these next two padded days, to evaluate, see
where we’re at as a group, before making that decision. We’ve obviously had conversations
as a staff and with Tony [Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli] and
James [General Manager James Gladstone] as well, but we’re going to let these two days
play out, see what it looks like, and make a decision from there.”
(On talking to the other team about playing starters in preseason) “I texted Coach Tomlin
last night. So we’re touching base today at some point here to just get on the same page
about what they’re doing, what we’d like to do ultimately. We’ll have to ultimately make that
decision tomorrow, but we’re going to touch base today.”
(On the difficulty of deciding what players should play in preseason) “That is the ultimate
debate. Obviously came from being in LA [Los Angeles]. It was, shoot, your ones and twos
don’t really play. So you’re ultimately, playing with a lot of younger guys, which is kind of the
whole selling point in LA, is you do that and it helps you get, CFAs [Compensatory Free
Agent] and get guys to come in because you know you’re going to get a lot of great quality
reps in film. Whereas in Tampa, we played some of the guys and got some quality work. So,
it’s definitely a difficult decision that we’ve been wrestling, back and forth with a little bit,
but we’ll have a better idea tomorrow.”
(On the importance of the first preseason game to evaluating the roster) “It’s big. I mean,
we don’t know what you have ever. You really don’t. I mean, you have a feel. You know what
you’re doing against each other. As we saw even in the scrimmage the other night, like, we’d
be lying if we didn’t see some, bright eyes and maybe getting into guys doing some things
that maybe they hadn’t been doing in practice settings because we’re in the stadium and
there were some fans there. It is different, to go through the pregame routine, to get into
your routine of getting ready to go play a game, but also, like you mentioned, going and
competing against somebody else, especially Pittsburgh, specifically on the defensive side
of the ball, plays a little bit of a different structure than we do. They play differently with
their D line than we do in some ways, so it might be great for us to get some of that work.”
(On LB Jalen McLeod’s injury status) “Yeah. I think he’s more week-to-week than day-to-
day.”
(On what McLeod’s injury means for the competition at SAM linebacker and what he’s seen
from LB Dennis Gardeck) “Yeah, he’s still just getting into the swing of things. I think he’ll
start to probably feel more and more like himself as the next probably week and a half go.
I’m excited to see him be able to go and come off the edge and get him some more team
reps. He’s just a little bit limited in some ways still right now within the team setting, so I’m
excited. I’m excited to actually see who can step up. It’s a bummer because Jalen was
doing some good things in some of the pass rush, actually, when he was going in four down
and playing D-End and getting some of that stuff going, which is what he did a lot in college.
So, that’s a bummer but the competition continues.”
(On OL Wyatt Milum’s versatility) “You guys have kind of seen it since the spring, it’s kind of
our philosophy is moving guys around. We did it the other night as well. That’s something
that I thought we did a nice job in L.A. when [current Buffalo Bills Offensive Line Coach]
Aaron Kromer was our offensive line coach. It was constant moving guys around. You
ultimately want to make sure you set your groups as close to game as you can to have the
time. Like, where you can have a little bit more time to work, but it’s great because you just
don’t know, especially the O-line guys. When you don’t have depth or guys have experience
playing specific positions and a pinch happens, it is the worst feeling in the world. I went
through it in 2022 when we had 13 different starting O-lines, which was an NFL record, not
a record you want to be known for. So since that, we have just really tried to make such a
conscious effort of adding depth in there while also cross training.”
(On OL Wyatt Milum’s versatility) “That’s our, you guys have kind of seen it since the spring,
it’s kind of our philosophy is moving guys around. We did it the other night as well. That’s
something that I thought we did a nice job in L.A. when [current Buffalo Bills Offensive Line
Coach] Aaron Kromer was our offensive line coach. It was constant moving guys around.
You ultimately want to make sure you set your groups as close to game as you can to have
the time. Like, where you can have a little bit more time to work, but it’s great because you
just don’t know, especially the O-line guys. When you don’t have depth or guys have
experience playing specific positions and a pinch happens, it is the worst feeling in the
world. I went through it in 2022 and we had 13 different starting O-lines, which was an NFL
record, not a record you want to be known for. So since that, we have just really tried to
make such a conscious effort of adding depth in there while also cross training.”
(On what he’s looking for in practice ahead of the Steelers game) “Less penalties. It was
great. We got [NFL Official] Alex Kemp out here, a great referee crew out here that did a
great job. We met with them as a staff at 7AM this morning. They will meet with our players
this afternoon. They’ll also meet with the rookies and explain some of the rule changes
from college to pro this evening. We are making a conscious effort, the league is making a
conscious effort at detailing formations, alignments, assignments, and motions is a huge
part of the rules this year. Two men in motion, illegal formation, shaving the line of
scrimmage, it all showed up today. All the things that they are trying to emphasize, so long-
winded way of answering your question I’d like a little bit more discipline.”
(On what it’s like having former NFL Head Coaches Tom Coughlin and Jon Gruden at
practice) “It’s really cool. Yeah, those guys – shoot Coach Coughlin I grew up a Patriots fan,
so he broke my heart a few times. And [former UMASS and New York Giants WR] Victor
Cruz being my college roommate, obviously, very close with coach Coughlin, he’s been
such a support for me since I’ve had the opportunity to take this job and live here. Coach
Gruden and I were neighbors in Tampa, so we lived in the same neighborhood and that was
great. I actually ran into him a few times last year in Tampa and right before I actually got
hired here, I ran into him and we were having a conversation about that, so it’s great to have
him here. We’re talking some ball. A lot of the evolution of our offense comes from him in
so many ways. When Sean [Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay] was with him in
Tampa, Sean was in Washington with his brother [former Washington Commanders Head
Coach Jay Gruden], and there’s a lot of similarities. It’s pretty cool.”
(On what he’s seen from OL Walker Little at left tackle) “I think his run blocking has
improved a lot since last year. Coming off the rock, finishing better. I think he’ll also be the
first one to tell you he’s got to work a little bit more on some of the pass pro [protection] in
terms of just timing up his hands, using his hands, using his length to his best abilities
because he does have some length. He’s a long dude that is athletic as well. So he needs to
continue to improve, but I have been I’ve been pleased with, like you mentioned, some of
the consistencies. Those guys had been. I thought today was probably our worst day in a
while up front in some ways or just as an offense executing the run game. But in some of
the pass protection, I was not pleased with as a group, whether it was the ball not coming
out on time, not getting open on time, not protecting well enough, but I think they have
been playing with some confidence as well.”
QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2025
(On the offense’s performance today) “Today was definitely one of our worst days as an
offense. Even speaking just personally, I felt like I maybe didn’t see it as great today. I just
felt like we were moving a little slow coming off the off day. Just need to bring a little more
juice next time. One play at a time, it takes one play to kind of get you back going. I think we
could’ve brought a little bit more energy. A little sluggish today coming in. We’ll watch the
tape, though, and see what it was. There was a lot of stuff just kind of everywhere.
Penalties, there were some missed assignments, there were a couple of bad reads by me, it
was just a little bit of everything. So, we’ll have to watch it and see. Practice, you’d rather
have it happen out here and learn from it. We’re not playing yet, so we’ve got some time to
fix it, but we need to address the issues and learn from them.”
(On if he’s preparing to play in Saturday’s game vs. Pittsburgh) “Yes, I’m expecting to play.
Preparing myself to play. Not sure exactly what the plan is yet. I think we’re still evaluating
some stuff, but yeah, I’m ready to go if so. I’ll be excited to get back out there. It’s been a
while, so anytime you can play – even preseason – it means something to get on that field.
I’ll be ready to go if that’s the case. If not, the other guys will be ready to roll.”
(On if he thinks the preseason helps his preparation) “I think it does help. Just from the
standpoint, especially as a quarterback, you can get hit. All offseason and all training
camp, you can’t get hit. Sometimes there’s a different time clock in the pocket. You try to
always play it real in practice, but sometimes you kind of hang on to the ball and take a little
bit more chances in the pocket because there are no consequences. When you’re live, it’s a
little different. So, it’s nice to feel the time clock sped up, to feel the communication with
the whole offense, with the offensive line, protection. Just live full-speed reps, I think it’s
valuable. I think you’ve got to be smart, too, though, as far as how much you play and all
that stuff. That’s for Coach [Head Coach Liam Coen] and all of them to figure out and for us
just to do our jobs. I do think there’s value, though.”
(On the offense’s performance in the stadium scrimmage) “I thought we operated really,
really smoothly. I think we still left a couple of plays out there. That’s always going to be the
case, probably. You’re not going to play perfect. But I felt like there were a couple of plays I
definitely left out there. I think as an offense overall, we operated clean, not a ton of
penalties, just having the call-it mentality. Move the ball, playing situational football, that’s
fun. In practice, you play situations, but they’re all in blocks, so sometimes, it doesn’t
always feel like a game because of the flow. It’s just different. So, it was nice having the
clock moving, every play is spotted about where it would have gone down, you play every
second-and-long, third-and-short, third-and-medium. You play all the situations. We had a
two-minute drive in. All those things, it feels a little bit more realistic as far as the game
flow, so I thought that was really good and some stuff to build off of.”
(On how he feels about his training camp overall) “I think I’ve made some big strides from
the spring as far as the system, being comfortable, playing fast, getting through
progressions, letting it rip, especially across the middle, and anticipating some throws. I
think it’s been a lot better than the spring. I think going into today, I was pleased with just
my progress. Not necessarily overall performance, but I felt like I was really just playing
better every day, and I think that’s what you want to do. Today, obviously, had a little bit of a
rougher day, so we’ll have to just watch it and learn from it. It’s the same thing, even if you
don’t perform how you want to, you’ve got to learn from it. So, just taking all the coaching
points and all the stuff I can from each day. Trying to make the corrections the next day and
play better.”
(On if his footwork has progressed) “For sure. Footwork is becoming more natural, tying my
feet with my eyes and then just seeing the concepts because I’ve seen them now three or
four times installed. You feel more comfortable. You know what the back side is going to
look like, you know what gets you off the front side, and you kind of just play a little bit
quicker. But there’s still some of that muscle memory that sets in from some of my old
footwork and drops and stuff that I just have to continuously just work in Indy [individual]
and in team drills and while we’re in practice and it’s not live bullets flying. This is the time
to fix it, and we’ve made some good progress, but there’s a lot more work to do.”
(On how big of a jump the team can make this season) “I think that’s a hard question to
answer, to put a specific measure on it. I think that this can be a really good team. I think
we’re talented, our schemes are really good, we’re well coached. We’re still getting better
and dialing in on the details, and we need to play cleaner and be better operationally and
just gel more as units, but I really think – not to be cliché – the sky is the limit for this team.
Like I said, we’re talented, we’re well coached, we have a good scheme. You can’t speak on
the results because we have to go out and do it and we have to perform, but I really feel
confident that we’ll be prepared come September, whatever, the first game. We’ll be ready
to play. We’ve got a lot of work to do until then, though. Camp’s a long time.”
(On the challenge of off-the-field distractions) “I mean, there are always things in the NFL.
It’s a crazy business. There are always things going on all the time, so you try to
compartmentalize and do your job and ignore everything else, and at times, the bigger the
distraction, the harder it becomes, but you still have a job to do. That’s the challenge we’re
all faced with is to do your job despite everything happening around you. Sometimes it’s
easier than others, but that’s our job, and we’ve got to do it.”
(On his thoughts on the three rookie running backs) “They’ve been awesome. I think all
three of them have had days and spurts where they’ve played really well, and then also, as
rookies, learning the system isn’t easy, and they’ve done a nice job in the protections and
knowing what to do and who to pick up. They’ve all made plays running the ball or out of the
backfield catching it, making plays down the field. They’ve all had their plays, so we’ve got
a lot of options. A lot of great options. A lot of them are young, so we’ve got some juice in
the backfield, which I’m excited about.”
(On what he would want to see from himself and the offense in Saturday’s game) “Just to
play clean. No penalties, operation in and out of the huddle quick, get up to the line,
communicate, just play clean ball and execute whatever’s there. Obviously, the plan—
there’s not as much game planning when you’re talking about preseason games. So, not
sure exactly the plan as far as what we’re going to do, but whatever it is, it’s stuff we’ve
done all training camp, I’m sure. So, just execution at a high level.”
(On cleaning up penalties) “Yeah, just clean up that stuff. The stuff you can control, right?
This game is hard enough playing against all these great players, these great teams, and
when you beat yourself with pre-snap penalties and not lining up right, little stuff, maybe
it’s a can that I go the wrong way on I because I didn’t see it right, whatever, that’s stuff that
you can control. So, if we can be damn near close to 100 percent on those, it’s just going to
put us in position to make more plays and be more successful when the ball is snapped.”
(On where his chemistry is at with WR Brian Thomas Jr.) “I mean, it’s just something where
timing with receivers is so important. Chemistry, that connection, all that stuff, and then
when you change offenses, it kind of resets a little bit because there are new routes. There
is some carryover, for sure. Everyone does similar things, but just the communication and
talking. I think we’ve made some big steps since the spring. And you’ve got to think, too, we
didn’t get to play a full season together. So, we’ve been trying to build that and just be in
lockstep and always know each other’s thinking. When we get those one-on-ones, making
all those plays, giving him opportunities, always giving him a chance to get his hands on the
ball. There has been some frustration, I think, from both of us, and just offensively. There’s
been some where I might miss a throw, he might not make a contested catch, maybe they
push coverage to him. There are days when it’s a little frustrating, and that’s the stuff you
work through in practice. We both expect a lot out of each other, and I think that’s the cool
thing about our relationship: we expect to make all those plays. It’s frustrating when you
don’t, and like I said, we’ve just got to keep working it. He’s such a great player, just keep
giving him all the opportunities and putting the ball somewhere where he can get it, and
always giving him a chance is really important.”
(On what he’s seen from TE Brenton Strange) “I think the same thing: more comfortable in
the offense, playing faster, understanding what we’re doing. That’s for all of us. Me seeing
him quicker, getting the ball to him in some different scenarios, where maybe in the spring I
was not dishing it to him, getting backsided or doing whatever. I think getting more
comfortable seeing him in different spots in this scheme and knowing what to expect, how
he’s going to run certain routes. I love Brenton, man. I’ve always loved how he plays. He
plays really hard, he’s a really good blocker, and then what he can do in space, too. He
doesn’t get enough credit for how good of a route runner he is. Very physical, great after the
catch. So, he’s going to be a problem for us.”
(On if he expects Strange to have a bigger role this year) “Yeah, I think just giving him more
opportunities, you’ll see more. Before, we had Evan [former Jaguars TE Evan Engram], and
Evan had been here and been very productive, and he’s an older, veteran player. Brenton’s
kind of behind him, learning from him, so he just didn’t get the same amount of
opportunities. Now, he’s looked at as the guy, the matchup at tight end to go make plays in
the passing game. He does a great job, especially with all he’s asked to do between that
and the run game. Tight end is a crazy position. Those guys are beasts. Physical, then they
go run 50 yards down the field and come back, and then block a D-end. It’s hard to do, and
he’s done it at a high level.”
(On how excited he is to see WR/DB Travis Hunter in a game setting) “Really excited. If
Friday was a glimpse of it, we should all be excited to see him running around out there,
wherever it’s at – on offense, defense. Hopefully, more offense. Throw one in there for us
there. But just the way he plays, the energy he plays with. Even just little things like
interacting with the fans and the juice he brings into the stadium. That stuff does mean
something. Not everyone necessarily has that personality, but he has something about him
that’s just special. The energy he brings and the energy he plays with and the joy and all
that stuff. The way he runs around, it’s fun to watch and it’s fun to play with a guy like that. I
think he’s starting to play a lot faster now that he knows the system and can play free.”
(On his thoughts on the pinny Hunter wore in practice today to play defense) “It was
interesting. He played corner one snap and then came back and had to run a jet-sweep
motion. We’ve talked about how good of shape he’s in, but it’s funny seeing him back and
forth. It’s pretty crazy. Never seen anything like it.”
