HEAD COACH LIAM COEN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2025
(On if the run defense has been successful due to scheme or physical mentality) “Yeah, I
think it’s a good combination. There’s definitely been that point of emphasis as one of the
pillars of our defense. I think front variation helps where you can be in four-down fronts and
five-down fronts, and being able to create some of those different front structures, whether
it’s via lining up there, blitzing a second-level defender, or even a third-level defender, to be
able to create some of those different fronts to make it hard on the offense of being able to
know where your double teams are and moving it. But the mindset and mentality of that
group, individually, guys having the ability to whip blocks. That’s really what it comes down
to so often is, guys, there’s a lot of fundamentals and techniques that we coach and that
we teach, but be a football player and whip blocks and get off blocks and run to the football
and that’s kind of been the mindset and mentality of the group. Definitely a lot to improve
upon from yesterday, but that is the mindset.”
(On what has been key for WR Brian Thomas Jr. unlocking explosive plays) “Yeah, I think
cohesiveness, chemistry with the quarterback, being able to get a lot of reps of it. Probably
more reps throughout the season of being able to push the ball down the field than even
through training camp in a lot of ways. And so little bit more time on task and guys having
some confidence to go out and execute those plays. And so, it’s been a huge addition to be
able to continue to push the ball down the field and attack every blade of grass. And when
the defense feels that, it typically will help a lot of other things within the offense.”
(On how much he alters the game plan for what players want) “Not much. Not a ton. I guess
it’s more so you get more and more used to the guys that you’re working with and within the
fundamentals and techniques of the system and the plays. Look, it’s always you’re trying to
be players over plays, but also there are things that you want to attack on a specific
defense and finding out what our quarterback does best, what the other guys do best and
how that fits in with how the defense is playing you. I think we’re probably seeing a little bit
more single high than we were maybe earlier in the year in some ways. And so that’s also
helped get some one-on-one opportunities.”
(On taking the ball first and trying to score) “I think it’s always—sometimes that decision
comes down to weather and stuff like that. You’re going through that process. But for us
offensively the mindset was to start fast and to continue on the trajectory of some of the
previous weeks of good execution and guys bringing some juice early, getting us some
confidence early. And that showed up again yesterday that way. I was proud of the way that
they went out and executed on that first drive, mixed in a little tempo as well, which I
thought they handled well and something we wanted to do a little bit against those guys
yesterday. And so, Trevor [QB Trevor Lawrence] had great command of what we were trying
to get accomplished on that first drive. And starting fast is definitely something that we
want to be able to do.”
(On if you can gain momentum as a play caller off of the rhythm of the players) “Absolutely.
Yeah, I’ve always fed personally off of players and their momentum. We talk about
momentum a lot actually, in terms of handling, riding and trying not to get too high, too low
but you can’t help but feel when guys have confidence and when you feel like what you’re
going to call is going to go. It’s definitely a feeling you get and you feed off each other. And
so, there were a lot of times yesterday that you were calling a play and very much so
expected it to work, and that’s a good feeling for all of us to have. And so, that’s a cool part
is when you’re feeding off each other and those guys did execute some stuff and we
protected very well in the pass game. And so that in itself is a nice feeling for all of us that
you know you can keep calling it because they’re not getting home as much and we’re doing
a great job. So that allows those routes to continue to develop and get a little bit more open
and the quarterback to continue to have the trust to let it rip.”
(On how to balance the belief ‘it’s about us’ while prioritizing ‘hunting’ the opponent) “Look,
you’ve got to respect each opponent because this league is so competitive. The coaching,
like I mentioned, is so high level. You watch our tape yesterday and there’s so many good
things, but there’s a lot to clean up and there’s a lot to coach off of and I think our guys will
watch that and know that. And so when you’re so inner focused on getting better, improving
the details, fundamentals and techniques, discipline, there’s too much to continue to
focus on internally then to let yourself—you’re going to study your opponent though, you’re
going to respect, hey, I’ve got this one-on-one matchup, and this is a big matchup because
that is ultimately what this league is about, is winning one-on-ones, whipping blocks,
playing football. And so, it’s hard to get too carried away with who’s ahead, who’s behind,
where are we? It’s just you really don’t have time for it. And if you do, if your mind’s going
there, then we’re not really internally focused and that takes away from what we’re trying to
do. So hard question to fully answer, but it’s mostly trying to be internal as much as
possible because you don’t have the time.”
(On if he has talked to CB Greg Newsome II about his unnecessary roughness penalty) “I
talked to—Greg hit me up, we talked and it is a rule I have that if you get one, you’re just
coming off for a play, it’s not a big deal. Hey, take a deep breath and let’s move on and
compose ourselves regardless of what happened. If you were first, if you were second, it
doesn’t matter, we got a penalty and let’s move on. So those guys all understand that,
there’s emotion, there’s part of the game, I want them playing on an edge, but also we can’t
hurt the team when it comes to some of that. One of our two team rules is protect the
team.”
(On if Denver has a similar attitude to this Jaguars team) “I would say in a lot of ways. That’s
a good football team. I’ve been following them and had a lot of crossover tape with those
guys, have watched them execute at a high level from afar and defensively, do a really nice
job. So, we know this is darn good opponent. Going on the road, I think Mile High is a really
cool place to play and compete at. You think about football, you think about going and
playing a game like this. So, this is going to be a really good challenge for us. As you
mentioned, there’s a lot of similarities right now in some ways and being explosive. Their
quarterback can run, he can throw it down the field and their defense has played at a really
high level and it’s a good solid special teams unit as well. So, I’ve always had a lot of
respect for [Broncos Head Coach] Sean Payton.”
(On why fostering off the field relationships between players is important) “Yeah, I think I
read one of [Seahawks WR] Cooper Kupp’s quotes recently and he was talking about how
much more you want to be in the building and how much more you want to do your job at a
high detailed level when you care about the guys next to you. And shoot, I was watching a
video the other day of—I don’t even know, it was a DIII college. I can’t remember the name.
And they were doing a video take of all their players going out to practice and they were
answering a question to the camera, and it was ‘what’s your favorite part about football?’
And you watch all these guys come out from all different walks of life, all different human
beings come out and answer the question and 90 percent of the answer was my boys, my
teammates. And so, that’s Pop Warner, high school, college, pro. It doesn’t change. And so
yeah, this is our job, but brotherhood is actually really what it’s about.”
(On how he will review the Broncos 58.0 sacks) “You break them all down by sacks, hurries,
affecting the quarterback and try to look at breaking them down by blitz, stunt, game,
straight rush, four-man, five-man, three-man, six-man, if they’re bringing more. And you try
to evaluate where and where the volume may be coming from that standpoint. I know
they’ve got personnel that can go. I’ve used some of their clips in some of my team
meetings this year of showing some darn good rushes against some of the teams that we’ve
played. So, I think it’s probably a combination of those things without getting too much into
the weeds and knowing what they’re up to. But I do know that they’ve got good scheme and
good players.”
(On if it was important for him for Lawrence to get 300 passing yards) “I had zero idea what
he was at. I promise I had none. And so, it was the screen to Etienne [RB Travis Etienne Jr.]?
You’re saying the long screen? So, the play before was a single high deal where we had a
run on potentially and they happened to play single high again. So, that was part of the can.
And then threw the screen, we had had that screen up for couple weeks. Just kind of right
time, got it versus man. Anton [OL Anton Harrison] was pretty cool on that play if you watch
that. His athletic ability showed up. I said, ‘Now that I see that bud, I always need to see
you running like that now.’ (Laughs). It’s good.”
(On his relationship with Payton) “I actually went down to New Orleans when I was at
Maine. I was at the University of Maine in 2016. We went down, myself and [Buccaneers
Offensive Line Coach] Brian Picucci who was out in Tampa, went down, [Broncos Senior
Offensive Assistant] Coach Pete Carmichael obviously was with the Saints forever and with
Sean. And we had a connection to him being a Massachusetts guy, and so he allowed us to
go down and watch practice for a few days. [Lions Head Coach] Dan Campbell was the
tight ends coach, sat in on that meeting and learned so much football in four days of being
there, and a lot of what I ended up taking to Maine that year was a combination of Mark
Whipple at UMass, Spence’s [Quarterbacks Coach Spencer Whipple] dad, and New
Orleans Saints. And so, a lot of it was trying to watch their film, get all their tape and try to
watch as much so I could show the guys at Maine what we’re trying to do. And so, I had a lot
of respect for him then allowing me to come do that. And over the years seeing him a few
times, he has always been somebody that I’ve respected watching from afar. So much
Brees [Saints QB Drew Brees] tape over the years, the mixing of personnels and the way
that he attacks people, I’ve always respected.”
(On how much more he gives to Lawrence this late in the season) “I’m trying to think how
much different it is from—not too much from an overall operation. I think since maybe the
BYE of having a little bit more of an evaluation of who we are has helped us continue to
foster improvement and improve and he handles all the run cans, the protections,
obviously in the pass game there’s a lot that goes into it on a given play. And I think that he’s
done a nice job of controlling that and keeping that stuff pretty clean from man, zone, cans,
and protections, and fixing them, and doing some of those things. So, I think he’s more
comfortable doing it and we’re able to attack people a little bit differently than maybe we
were early on with some of the depth of targets and stuff.”
(On if Lawrence is operating better with five or less seconds on the play clock than before) “
“Yeah, you look at, I think I saw a stat of the ball’s getting snapped in the National Football
League under five seconds the most since 2016 or something. And that’s football, man. I
don’t know. You all love this one, man, but it’s football (laughs). Play calls are longer and
there’s a lot that goes into it and I’m never concerned about us not operating there.”
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN EZRA CLEVELAND
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2025
(On how difficult it is to move multiple positions like OL Cole Van Lanen has this season)
“Yeah, I’ve never done it personally and I don’t think a lot of O-linemen have actually done
it. But to play at the level he’s playing at, what is it four different positions now? Yeah, I’m
pretty sure it’s unheard of. [OL] Pat Mekari has a little bit of experience doing that too, so he
could answer it a little better. But besides those two, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone do
that. So, it’s really cool that he’s doing and it’s fun to be to be a part of it and play next to
him and see what he’s doing to prepare in the offensive line room and be a part of it.”
(On if he wants Van Lanen to learn how to snap to do all five) “We’ve definitely joked about
it in the room, but you don’t want to joke about it too much because then that kind of puts
a cloud over Hainsey [OL Robert Hainsey] and you don’t want any bad juju going around.”
(On if he could tell that RB Travis Etienne Jr. was going to perform well this season) “Yeah,
T.J. [Etienne], he’s always locked in. Even last year, I never thought he didn’t work hard or
anything. He’s always head down, doesn’t talk very much, works as hard as possible and
it’s cool to see all his hard work coming forward and him balling out. When he gets the ball
in space, he does some special stuff so it’s fun to watch.”
(On what he likes about the screen game in Head Coach Liam Coen’s offense) “Yeah, the
screen game, it normally comes on third down, so it’s a refresher for us even though we run
a lot. It makes it really nice not having the pass pro all the time. So, block the guy, throw
them and then go try to get down field and make it go. And the more it’s successful, the
more he will call it. So, having that big screen pop yesterday was a lot of fun and hopefully
he calls more of those.”
(On Coen) “I’ve been impressed with the way he carries himself. His offense is really fun to
be a part of. The way he calls it is great and the juice he brings around the building. I think a
lot of people can feel that along with Grant [Offensive Coordinator Grant Udinski] and all
those guys, all the new coaches, all the young guys. It’s a lot of fun playing for them
because they bring good juice and you want to play for those guys. It’s really fun.”
(On why the offense is successful and ‘fun’ to be a part of) “The marriage of the run and the
pass. We’re not always dropping back on second-and-long and third-and-long, we throw
some runs in there and stuff. So, we’re pretty unpredictable for defenses which makes it
fun for us because you never know if we’re pass setting or run blocking, so it makes it a little
easier.”
(On if he can feel the confidence of QB Trevor Lawrence) “I’m going to be honest. It feels
pretty close to the same. He is always pretty poised and confident in the huddle at all
times, even if stuff’s going bad. And I think that is being a pro. No matter what happens,
you’ve got to play the next play. I think we’re all doing a really good job of that. Even with the
throw he made yesterday, he was hyped, but we came back in the huddle and it’s time for
the next play.”
(On playing with a QB who can seemingly always keep a play alive) “Yeah, realistically you’d
like to stay in front of your guy at all times and not have to have him run out of the pocket.
But when he has to do that, you try to stay in front of your guy as much as possible and
make it to where he has a lane. It makes it a little easier knowing that he can use his legs to
keep the play alive and seeing him run for first downs and stuff is a lot of fun.”
(On how impressive it has been to not give up a sack in five games this season) “Yeah, we
kind of treat every game like it’s super important. So, I didn’t even know that was a stat,
honestly. I know we didn’t give up one last week, but I think we look forward to each game
and trying to pass pro the best we can. And a lot of it has to do with Trevor too, he’s
extending plays and getting out of the pocket and stuff. That’s a cool step.”
(On if the offensive line talks about games where they do not give up a sack) “No, we don’t
really bring that up. Kind of watch the film and you don’t really bring up the bad plays. You
watch them, but you kind of move on. So, that is cool. I didn’t know that.”
SAFETY ERIC MURRAY
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2025
(On generating turnovers as a defense and if it becomes a competition of who on the team
can get the most) “Yeah, I would say so. But most importantly, it’s the biggest indicator of
wins. I think when you have a team that’s— I don’t know where we are in turnovers—but I
think we’re pretty up there, it directly correlates to winning and I think that’s what you’re
seeing. So, that’s why it’s so much of an emphasis.”
(On the run defense) “Just everybody practicing the right technique in the run game. It takes
all 11 people out there to stop the run. And when you see one person get out of a gap or one
person not execute the right technique, you start to see big plays in the run game. So,
everybody’s been really dialed into the technique, and we’re all bought in on how to stop
the run and we know how to stop the run. So I think that’s the most important part.”
(On his sack yesterday) “It’s exciting anytime you can get back there and sack the
quarterback, I wish he’d have held the ball out so I could’ve got a sack fumble or
something, but you’ve got to take what you can get.”
(On what it says about the secondary that so many players have played well when called
on) “That we are a close-knit group. We spend a lot of time together, outside of football and
we actually care about each other. We actually love each other. So, I think when you have
different people roll in and do different jobs, everybody fits seamlessly because we’re
together.”
(On the growth of S Antonio Johnson) “Doing his process more refined, doing the work
before the game, I think that’s where the game is won. And you start to see the results that
he’s having on Sunday and the plays that he’s making. He’s a big talented kid. He’s already
very smart, very fast, lengthy and rangy. So, once you know what to do, you can make
plays.”
(On what he likes about Defensive Coordinator Anthony Campanile) “He’s very personable
in terms of how he coaches the game and how he feels about people. He’s not afraid to
have positive words of affirmation, which I feel is rare in his business. People always
judging a player based on what they do, but he judges you based on the person you are and
how you grew up and taking that and expressing that on the field. A lot of us have, some of
us have tough backgrounds, some of us don’t, but if you do, you’ve been tough all your life,
so exercise that on the field and do it to the best of your ability. So, I think that’s what put
him in that conversation.”
(On if Campanile’s consistency in energy unique in coaching) “Not necessarily. I think the
transparency is unique and it feels like a family. I think that’s, as a defender and as a
defense, that’s what you want to feel from your coach. It doesn’t feel he’s our coach and
he’s coaching us. It feels, like he’s a big uncle or something. He’s trying to tell us and direct
us in the right path. I don’t know if that’s the Italian part of him, but yeah, that’s what it feels
and that’s what he brings.”
(On if it’s unusual for teams to be described as a ‘family’) “I think it’s unusual in the NFL for
sure. Everybody’s got their own lives, everybody’s got different things. I think the unique
part about Jacksonville is it’s not too much to do. So, we all get together, we all get together
and stuff isn’t too far. You don’t have to —most people have to drive. It’s probably 20
minutes or something to link up with somebody. So, I think that’s the unique part about
Jacksonville.”
(On if it feels ‘corny’ to describe that to other players in the league) “Yeah, if you’re having a
bad season and your team’s not good, yeah, you’ll feel that way. So (laugh), yeah, I get that.”
(On playing meaningful games in December) “It’s been great. We all came here with a job to
do and so we’re executing that to the best of our ability and that’s why we’re in the position
we’re in. So, it’s definitely encouraging to see the pieces that we brought in and the people
that we brought into gel like this.”
(On how involved Head Coach Liam Coen is in the family aspect of the team) “He puts
together events on Saturday where our families can come and everybody can experience
other people’s families. So, he puts stuff in a schedule to help facilitate that feeling.”
(On if that is unique) “Yeah, I had a little bit in the last location that I was at and it helps for
sure because you spend so much time away from your family.”
(On how that helps the team) “Just helps everybody know each other. There are so many
people on the team. It’s hard to get to know everybody. So, if I see him with his family or he
sees me with my family, it’s a little bit more interaction that you normally wouldn’t have. So
yeah, it definitely breeds a comfortable standpoint, I guess.”
