HEAD COACH LIAM COEN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2026
(On how he is feeling) “Good, getting better. Nobody cares [laugh]. Well, you do. I
appreciate it. Thank you. My dad too, everybody’s kind of been feeling it, but guys are doing
a good job of washing hands, making sure we bring up some of those germ spreading
philosophies.”
(On dealing with a locker room with multiple sick guys) “Look, you’ve been dealing with that
since high school. High school football, I remember, so much just spreads. And similar in
college, same thing. So, you deal with it, it’s just the way it is. Locker rooms, football,
sports, whatever it is you’ve just got to take extra precautions. That’s all.”
(On if he likes the progress that WR Brian Thomas Jr. has made) “Oh yeah, absolutely. I think
him and Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] were a little frustrated last week on not connecting on
a few of those that we had last week that we had connected on kind of dating back to the
first Indy game. So some great ops for that to continue to evolve and continue to be a part
of our offense being explosive, made a few big catches, corner routes last week, and need
to continue to be able to get him involved. The more he’s going, Jakobi [WR Jakobi Meyers],
Parker [WR Parker Washington], Strange [TE Brenton Strange], and you get the defense to
have to defend every blade of grass, that’s when your offense can truly be as explosive as it
needs to be.”
(On if it says a lot about Thomas Jr. that Colts CB Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner was following
him) “Absolutely. Yeah, when you have a guy that can do that and you score quick, I think
that’s the big respect avenue is when we can’t let people just score fast, that’s the hardest I
think way to go in a lot of ways. Because now it just becomes those kind of games and he
can do that to you. And so, we’re gaining more and more confidence with that group. In the
pass game, yesterday him and Trev connected on one that was arguably one of the better
ones I’ve seen in practice of those guys, really, of the whole group all season. So, excited
about those guys continuing to evolve.”
(On the job that DT DaVon Hamilton has done) “He’s just like you said, he is a pro’s pro.
Doesn’t say a whole ton, when he does speak guys, listen. He’s just very unselfish, I think
fits very well within Campy’s [Defensive Coordinator Anthony Campanile] scheme and
what they ask him to do. I think he’s made others around him so much better. You look at
the production our linebackers have been able to have because of his unselfishness and
the way that he’s made plays, just defeating blocks, getting off double teams, pushing the
pocket. Those are all things that when you’ve got a nose [tackle] that can demand double
teams and demand respect inside. He’s a huge reason why our defense is leading the
National Football League against the rush.”
(On what it feels like to make a throw as a quarterback and know you will get hit) “[Laugh]
It’s coming. You kind of know, like there’s a large percent chance you’re about to lose your
air. You’re going to lose your air there for a couple moments. Oxygen’s not going to be easy
to come by. And those are the type of throws that ultimately, I think define quarterbacks in a
lot of ways, especially at this level on critical down and distances. Money downs, red zone,
third down, two-minute, got to have it moments type deal, and you’re staring down the
barrel, you’re going to take a shot and you deliver a strike. That’s the selflessness of this
position. That’s what you get. That’s what you get playing this position in this at this level.
You get the glory, you get all the good things that come with it, but you’ve got to stand in
there and make those kind of throws. That’s something that play in particular looking at his
leadership, his competitiveness, his toughness, I think goes extremely undervalued is how
tough he is and how willing he is to stand in the pocket and take shots. And then ultimately
be able to also use his legs and be able to run and take shots that way. So, you want to try
to limit as many hits you can on your quarterback, but when a 6’5”, arguably almost 6’6”,
230-pound quarterback’s feet are above his head, that’s a pretty physical shot that he took.
And I think a lot of people looked at that clip in this building and said this guy’s a dog.”
(On what Lawrence’s toughness) “Yeah, huge. That was the first thing that I looked at with
him when I watched him play from all those years prior was like, yeah, I know he’s had
some injuries and missed some games, but this this dude’s tough. And if you can start
there with your quarterback. You want all your players to be mentally and physically tough,
but specifically at the quarterback position, if he can be mentally and physically tough and
kind of set the example for the rest of your team, your offense that’s a standard that gets
upheld every single day in every game that you walk out on the field. And he’s definitely
taken some shots throughout the season. You want to try to protect him as best you can.
You want him to protect himself as he gets out of the pocket as best you can, but instincts
take over, competitiveness takes over. And it just speaks to who he is, who his teammates
know he is, the leadership that he has, the confidence that the players have in him. I think
you earn a lot of respect in this league by taking shots on the chin and getting up and doing
it again.”
(On if he believes in momentum) “Yeah, you feel it. Knowing that every entity is its own,
every game is its own, every play is its own, every drive, every series. It’s all its own entity,
and you have to treat it that way but yeah, you can feel momentum for sure. You can feel
momentum swings in a game. You can feel them on a drive. You can feel them in a season.
So, I don’t think that you take that momentum and say, ‘well okay, this is just going to
happen now because we have momentum.’ That’s not the case. You earn everything that
you get in this league. You earn every opportunity that you get in this league and you’ve got
to take advantage of those moments when you do have momentum. You’ve got to take
advantage of them. Your opponent can feel it. I know you can feel it as a coach during a
game you can feel those things, but we haven’t really talked too much about momentum.
It’s more so just like, ‘Hey, we’re doing some good things. We’ve got to continue to seize the
moment, take advantage of the opportunity that we do have.’ And that I think will in turn ride
that momentum.”
(On when he realized everything Meyers could do after the trade) “Very quickly. Very early
on, you could just see how well he picked up the offense, how much time that he spent
putting into it. The relationship that he already had with Edgar [Wide Receivers Coach
Edgar Bennett], with E.B. really helps because E.B. has a good feel for what his strengths,
the weaknesses, what he can handle mentally and continue to push him past those
limitations as well. So, he’s given us the ability to move them inside, out, do different things
with them within the route tree. And in the blocking is really where you continue to earn
respect in this league as a receiver, obviously the catches the tough, grimy, sideline, toe
taps, over the middle, those plays are huge for us, but also what he does without the ball in
his hands is important. And he’s extremely intelligent as a football player, which allows us
to move him around.”
(On how much he attributes Lawrence’s surge to the arrival of Meyers) “I think there’s
obvious coincidences there that he’s able to attack a part of the field that we were missing
a little bit. But I think just having somebody that you trust to be able to make some of those
plays in the middle, like I kind of mentioned last week, it then now allows Parker, B.T.,
Strange, Etienne [RB Travis Etienne Jr.],those guys to truly do what they’re good at and what
they’re best at. And now you can spread the ball around on any given play regardless of who
it’s designed for, the ball can go anywhere, and that’s what I think those guys want. You
want, as a player, especially a skill player with how much you run, whether it’s in practice or
a game, and how many times you actually touch the ball, I think it’s good for them to know
that on any given concept, regardless of who it’s schemed for, the ball could go your way.
Because now the quarterback is truly just, he’s playing free, he’s trusting the protection, the
scheme, and the guys to go make plays. And so, I think that that’s helped not just Jakobi
and Trevor, but it’s also helped our offense evolve to say, well, you’ve got to defend us now
both vertically and horizontally.”
(On if there was a moment that he knew Lawrence understood the offense) “Honestly, at
the end of the Rams game, I think I started to see dude just kind of cutting it loose a little
bit, when him and Travis [WR/DB Travis Hunter] were gaining a little bit of a rapport towards
the end of the game where we’re throwing it, we’re not scoring, but he stood in there and
made some big time throws against a really good rush. Even though it was time where we
weren’t necessarily going to win the football game, but I saw a competitor, I saw a guy that
didn’t just ask me, ‘Man, like, can you just throw some quick games, some screens so we
can get up out of here?’ Like, that was not Trevor at all. It was a competitor. We were
standing in there throwing five-step concepts, seven-step concepts and trying to push the
ball down the field and compete. Then okay, you hit the bye and you go to Houston, we
don’t have the success we’re looking for after the Raiders game. And I thought in the
Raiders game though, he also took steps in the right direction. I thought he was trusting to
cut it loose a little bit more, trusting the guys to make plays. And then, I think that that’s
really where we, after the Houston game, had some of those conversations. And then I
think it’s really just kind of clicked from there.”
(On if he wants to be a multi-dimensional offense against the Titans or focus specifically on
generating the run) “What did we rush for last week? 120. Yeah, and there was a lot of meat
on that bone. I thought we blocked much better in the run game this past Sunday against
Indy. I think we missed a few things from the running back position, couple blocks outside,
couple communication things. But I did think that it was a step in the right direction. There
were more holes, there were bigger holes that we need to take a little bit more advantage of
with some explosives. But I thought we took a step in the right direction last week. Look,
you never want to force something. I think we run it I guess you could say good enough to
keep people honest. I think that that’s where play action continues to be something that
Trevor’s successful with. And when you can demand single high still, like when you can get
people to play single high, well you’re going to be able to dictate some of the terms in the
pass game. So yeah, look, you want to be able to—I want to rush for 150-plus every week, I
want to throw for 250-plus every week. That’s the goal, absolutely. But I’m going to continue
to run the football. It’s something I believe in. I think that you have to be able to do it
especially this time of year and as you head into December, January football, you’ve got to
be able to run the football and stop the run, but you’re also not going to bang your head
against the wall and do something that’s ultimately in game maybe not working as much as
maybe the pass or the screen or whatever it is to be able to give your guys a chance to win
that game.”
(On short-yardage situations) “I think we were really good at it. We struggled against, who
was it a couple weeks back where we didn’t convert? Was it Arizona, where we had like the
fourth-and-two, to close it out, didn’t get it, was not really a great play call by me and we
didn’t execute it great. And then last week, not getting that one was frustrating. But I think
overall I have a lot of confidence in us in short yardage. I think our staff does a nice job
mixing, whether it’s inside run versus getting the ball in the perimeter if you need to, if
they’re packing it in, having play calls that ultimately give the players options. If they
present a look that takes something away inside, give us the flexibility to go outside. We
haven’t taken probably a ton of shots in short yardage, which I’d like to be able to do a little
bit more of depending on if you have four downs or not. But I do think our guys have done a
nice job overall. I don’t know what our percentage is right now in short yardage, but you
should be in the 80th percentile or so at least. But I do think we’ve done a nice job. I
wouldn’t say we’re absolutely dominant there, but I do think it’s improved. I’m not sure what
the numbers were in past years, but it’s an area of the field that you want to continue…
They’re huge because you get another set of downs and it’s sometimes demoralizing for a
defense as well, especially if it’s fourth down, fourth-and-one, and you convert and you’re
able to go close out a game. Well man, that hurts. That’s a tough position to be in on the
other side of the football. So, it’s a huge point of emphasis. We talk about—we spend a lot
of time in short yardage as a staff and with the players. So, hopefully we can continue to
take steps in the short yardage work.”
(On how much upside CB Jarrian Jones still has) “Yeah, I think Jarrian’s preparation has
really upticked over the course of I can’t say how many weeks, but even at practice
yesterday, I would say he was one of the guys talking the most, on it, saying things before
the play, communicating to his teammates. Practice energy is something that I do
appreciate as a coach. Intentional energy of wanting to make sure that you’re doing the
right things. Like you’re not just out there in a crappy stance, oh, this is another practice or
walkthrough rep. And look, we can all get into that at times, it’s pretty natural behavior. But I
think Jarrian’s done a really nice job of being intentional about his work throughout the
week of practice, through the week of preparation. And then on Sundays he’s made plays.
He’s got confidence. I saw that video of those guys post-game coming back from the field
to the locker room, and I think it was crazy. LeQuint [RB LeQuint Allen Jr.] and [DE] Josh
Hines-Allen and Cam [K Cam Little] talking and then Jarrian comes into the camera there
and was like, ‘I’m like that.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, dude, you’re playing like that for sure.’ I want you
to feel that way. I want you to have that confidence. And I think his teammates have
appreciated that because it’s a guy that early on in the season, just wasn’t playing as much
because we did have depth in the secondary, right? We had Travis [Hunter], we had [CB]
Tyson Campbell, we had [CB] Jourdan Lewis, we had all these guys playing, Buster [CB
Montaric Brown]. And then we ended up making a move and he wasn’t playing right away.
Like, he didn’t just slide into that position and that was hard. That was hard for Jarrian for a
little while. And credit him for staying the course, for trusting the process, for trusting
himself and believing in himself, and also the staff doing a great job of keeping him going
and keeping him confident, keeping him engaged, saying, ‘Dude, you’re going to help us win
football games here.’ We promise you; you’re going to help us win. And he has and so I’ve
been really appreciative of that.”
