HEAD COACH LIAM COEN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2025
(On the contributions of DE Josh Hines-Allen) “Yeah, I think if you look at Josh’s sacks and
all that, obviously they get measured so much by that, but he is doing a ton in the last two
games to really disrupt, cause issues for the people that he’s playing against up front, in the
run game. I think Josh is just doing this right now [upwards motion]. As a pro, he’s one of the
first guys in the building; on the off days, he’s in here. We had 40-odd guys in here on the off
day, working out. He’s been helping lead that and been really pleased with him as a pro,
been really happy with him. I think it’s just going to keep doing this [upwards motion].”
(On the health of WR Brian Thomas Jr.) “Yeah, the injury report will come out today, this
afternoon. So, definitely, I think had a better week in terms of the way we were trying to
connect. So, excited about his op this weekend.”
(On the amount of time and conversations needed to address specific needs with players)
“Yeah, it’s definitely time on task for sure. The standard doesn’t change for anybody, any
position group, any individual. There’s still the standards, but it is our job to reach and find
different ways to connect with these guys and to pull them out of whatever it is or to keep
building them and getting them on the right track. That does take effort, it takes time, it
takes being intentional with your conversations with these guys, and I think that we’re on
the right track.”
(On if OL Ezra Cleveland will play Sunday) “It’ll come out today.”
(On how RB Bhayshul Tuten has applied his coaching to game production) “Yeah, I think
he’s taken a huge step from the spring for sure, and you look at in the game plan, continuing
to try to be on the screws with all the little details. Like that’s so much for a rookie,
especially rookie running backs. Like with Bucky [Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving] last year,
man, we had him as more of a gadget almost guy early on. Then when he started to go,
there’s so many things that he has to know that then like footwork starts to get a little
jacked up on tracks and then you start to decide, well, what is too much information and
what is the information he needs to know and what are the things that we may need to kind
of live with for a short term till he gets going? And so, I think the more and more he gets
reps, the more comfortable he gets within the system and all three of those backs really
practice their tails off this week.”
(On the thought process between shell practice on Wednesday and pads on Thursday)
“Yeah, that was something I looked at in the offseason a little bit. I’d always wanted to do it,
had never done it really before, but it has always been the traditional Wednesday pads,
Thursday uppers, and then Friday’s helmets. We didn’t even do Thursday spiders, and it
was full uppers, helmets. If you look at it, maybe from talking to the players, but also it’s
like, alright, the hardest thing of Wednesdays in the NFL at practice is the soreness. Like
they’re still hurt, they’re still sore, they just went through a car wreck. The intent is to get
them moving, to get the lactic acid out, get that stuff going, get them moving, but maybe
take some of the banging off the shoulders while still being able to get your run fits and get
some of the work that you need to do in normal down and distance with spiders on. And
then, okay, fast forward to Thursday, you still get a normal D and D [down and distance]
period. So, you’re getting run, play action, normal D and D work with the pads on, but also
now blitz pup becomes more realistic. The third downs become a little bit more realistic
because you have pads on, and they’re one day removed from the soreness. So that was
kind of something that we looked at in the offseason. I’ve always been really interested in
doing it and gotten good feedback so far.”
(On the evolution of Offensive Coordinator Grant Udinski’s role) “Yeah, I mean, the details
that show up in terms of the way that we prepare, the way that each section of the game
plan gets detailed and communicated to not just the players but the staff, and how often
those guys are in there together. We’re all in there at times together, obviously, and his
ability to see it in the run game, the play action, every phase of the plan. There are some
guys that are just much more comfortable with the pass game versus the run, and they may
be a little weaker in protections, but he’s got an ownership of all three in terms of the run,
the pass and the play action in the protection scheme. So that’s been really nice to have,
and a guy that obviously knows what it was like working with an offensive head coach last
year in Minnesota, and just that rhythm and routine and what it looks like for my availability
as well. So, he’s in the quarterback meeting every single day with those guys. He does a ton
of great things with active learning and getting them in the classroom in terms of getting
them up off their feet. Alright, walk through this play for a few plays. Okay, sit down, watch
and just keeping these guys moving. He has done a nice job so far.”
(On if a rookie who has missed time like OL Wyatt Milum could pick up the offense easily)
“Yeah, he may need a little bit more time here just to get more comfortable with just the
movements again and then without throwing him right back into the mix. He’s going to have
to do a little bit more on the side, do a little bit more extra individual work with the trainers,
but also with the coaches, just getting his footwork back and his rhythm and his timing of
his punch and just a comfort level. So, he’ll continue to work through a little bit on the show
team until he gets back to a position where we feel like he can go out and help us if
needed.”
(On the challenges the Texans present to the punt team) “It’s a challenge for sure. Those
guys, they’re aggressive in the [special] teams. The fakes, they also obviously have a good
rush. They’ve got physical athletic players that have played a long time in this league on
special teams, a lot of first and second-round picks that maybe didn’t quite make their
mark on offense or defense, and now, man, they’re special teams demons and running
around. So, it’s something that we have to work through. I’m really excited to see our teams
units this week take the next step. We got some young guys playing obviously in a lot of
situations, but this is a great week for us to bounce back on teams and match that intensity
but also it’s a huge one about communication or how many are in the box as a punt unit in
terms of being on the same page and communicating those things and obviously the
operation needs to be really clean for us to make sure that we don’t have any issues.”
(On how OL Anton Harrison has responded to being challenged) “It’s moving in the right
direction for sure. I think that I credit Anton; he was challenged a lot this spring through
training camp, over the summer, and he has responded in a positive way. You look at the
play that he made on the screen I mentioned already before, in pass protection, just in
general, his strain and effort, whether it be through the game or in practice, has absolutely
improved. So, I’ve been very pleased with him so far, and I think he has confidence right
now and is playing that way.”
(On if there is a snap threshold that he doesn’t want WR/DB Travis Hunter to reach) “We
haven’t quite gone there and we’ve talked about it like, alright, he had the 80 this past week
and saying, okay, that’s probably a pretty good start, it’s like, alright, we hit that number
early in the season and now it’s like, okay, is that something that we want to probably strive
to be around right now? Probably, I’d say so. We haven’t necessarily said, okay, if there’s a
number that he can’t go to yet. So, whether that occurs and goes over that number this
week, who knows? But I think we’re just going to be open to seeing where it goes.”
(On the challenges when preparing for such a talented defense) “You just, again, we have to
be very conscientious with the edge rushers for sure in terms of when we want to end up
pushing the ball down the field, how are we helping those guys or whatever it is. It’s just an
emphasis for the quarterback, receivers, tight ends, like the timing and rhythm of the pass
game needs to be sharp. They play a lot of zone, but they’ll also play some man, and when
we get those opportunities that we have to be able to say, well, this ball has got to get out
on a hitch or a hitch or two here, we don’t have much more than that, just play in and play
out. So, it’s just everybody has got to have—it’s not like you’ve got to go and do anything
different. It’s just, hey guys, the timing and rhythm, we have got to get the ball out of our
hands in terms of being at the right spot at the right time. The quarterback with his
progressions and reads. It’s not, hey, we don’t have to speed up. But guys, we don’t
probably have too much more than that. So, I have a lot of faith. I mean, in watching the
tapes from last year and how some the O-line played, the guys that are back this week for
us have done some nice things against those guys as well. So, it’s going to be a good
battle.”
(On the time spent on correcting pre-snap penalties in practice) “Yeah. I think we kind of
helped them out in some ways, schematically a little bit, just trying to tighten it up for them.
There were some things last week that we were trying to do in order to undress the defense
that ultimately, in some ways, was really good and allowed us to get some explosives, and
in some ways was hurtful. So that’s the fine line and balance that we’re trying to find as
coaches, especially early on with this team. So, I think we probably did a better job this
week of just understanding, okay, we obviously struggled with it a little bit and how do we
help them in terms of taking some of that off of them?”
(On the preparation of QB Trevor Lawrence) “Yeah, I thought he had a good Wednesday.
Wednesday’s practice for us as a team was better than last Wednesday’s. I thought his
detail, the way he’s been preparing, like I said, has been really good. So today it’ll be nice to
be able to go out and see some of the red zone throws and some of those things get thrown
today, so I think he’s had a good week.”
(On when he last speaks to the team before a game) “Saturday night. We have a team
meeting at eight o’clock, and so that’s the last time we’ll really address the team before we
go out at the beginning of the game. So that’s the last message, we’ll have a ‘what it takes’
meeting tomorrow as a team where a lot of the message will occur in that Saturday team
meeting, and then we’ll kind of reaffirm it, talk a little bit Saturday night as well.”
(On how special that time is for him) “Yeah, it’s great. I mean, I think that each week, it’s a
little bit— there’s a different nuance, but the messaging has to remain consistent for these
guys. They are responding, I think, in a lot of ways to what we are challenging them to do,
and we’ll see how much I have to actually say Saturday night.”
(On whether he will write his thoughts for the meeting down or if it is off the cuff) “No, I
mean, I’ll think about what—I will write some of these things, the notes. During the week,
I’m kind of jotting down those ‘what it takes,’ keys to victory type of messaging, and then
what is the tone of it, and what is the tone going to be? So, I will write some of that stuff
down throughout the week and then reference it Saturday morning, Friday night a little bit.”
