HEAD COACH LIAM COEN
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2025
(On celebrating Christmas during the season) “I’ve been in Florida for Christmas a lot
actually. Since my dad moved to Florida, when I was in college, we got a place in Florida
down in Rotonda West, down in Port Charlotte, Englewood area. And so, I’ve done Florida
for a long time around Christmas time and different than the Northeast for sure, but I love
it. We will tonight be able to have little family time at some point here. I’m not sure exactly
what time I’ll be making it home tonight, but hopefully for dinner or so, maybe a later
dinner. But then tomorrow we kind of bumped everything back for the staff and the players
and be able to have Christmas morning with their families and then come in around, I think
11 or so, 12 and do a smaller portion. It was just easier for us than coming back from
Denver and pushing everything back a day and not doing anything tomorrow. That would’ve
been very challenging on staff and players, so that’s what we’re doing.”
(On if the Pro Bowl results can provide an ‘edge’ to players) “Yeah, I would imagine. Look,
we can’t control those decisions, and we have a lot of players that very prideful and have
done some really cool things. And to be 11-4 and have one, that just speaks volumes.”
(On why there was not a big celebration after clinching the playoffs) “It’s more we haven’t
talked about those kind of goals and it’s more so just trying to compete like champions
every week, every day, and go throughout the process and see what happens. So, I’m sure
people are excited to know that there is more football ahead of us, but we’re really trying to
just stick within this day and be where we’re at, be where our feet are, and go compete
against a good Colts team this week.”
(On what stands out about Colts QB Philip Rivers) “First of all, a ton of respect for what he’s
doing. The player that he’s been throughout his entire career, I’ve watched him at N.C.
State. I’ve watched him, obviously the Chargers and over the years, of how much command
he has at the line of scrimmage, the competitor. I’ve always really respected and
appreciated his game, so he’s able to command, he knows the system. They obviously have
a very strong connection with him and Shane [Colts Head Coach Shane Steichen] and that
staff. And so, you can see that there’s a guy that’s running their offense. He’s able to make
checks and get to things that he knows are beaters against certain looks and coverages and
those guys are making plays for him out in the perimeter. So, nothing’s really changed in
terms of our preparation of how we were going into this game the first time against Daniel
[Colts QB Daniel Jones] and what that looked like. So very good offense still, as you guys
saw the other night.”
(On Colts WR Alec Pierce) “I had a lot of tape on him coming out. I was in L.A. as an
assistant receivers, assistant quarterbacks coach. I can’t remember what I was at the time,
but I remember watching him a ton coming out of Cincinnati. And he can fly. He’s making
one-on-one plays all over the field, whether it’s in the deep shots, third downs, red zone.
There’s definitely a trust factor there and he’s got a lot of confidence right now.”
(On how he has grown as a coach since February) “Good question. You don’t get a lot of
time to self-reflect on that. I think that it’s fun. It’s been a fun year in terms of getting to grow
within a team and grow within doing something new for the first time. With some guys that
you’re excited about doing it with on a daily basis and James [General Manager James
Gladstone] and Tony [Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli], they’ve
been unbelievable. And being able to learn more about your players on a day-to-day basis
and what they become really good at, where they become—alright, these are the
weaknesses that we either need to improve or, hey, maybe not right now and let’s work
around that. And calling the game to their strengths, hopefully as much as possible. You
kind of figure out what you’re good at by a certain time and you try to focus more on those
things and do them a little differently and that becomes the fun challenge of preparation, of
competing, of plays off of plays and those kind of thought processes. So for so long there,
you’re trying to figure out what you’re good at and okay, you’re trying things out and you’re
doing things that you think you know what it takes to go compete and put them in a position
to succeed. But now it’s really fun because they’re showing who they are, their
personalities come out more and you can just go play.”
(On if his play sheet and cadence of the game is similar to last season with Tampa Bay) “I
would say look, when you’re able to score and guys are making plays, it definitely makes
your job easier in ways, but also puts more pressure on you throughout the week to make
sure that you’re putting them continuously in positions to be successful. But it’s fun being
able to call a play and those guys go and you throw a five-yard out and he takes it 50 or
whatever it is, 60, so it’s like that makes it really fun and you want to try to do more for them
as a coach. Like you want to work harder throughout the week to try to find those edges to
be able to put them in a position to succeed.”
(On where he looks for areas to improve on the last game against the Colts) “Yeah,
definitely. Yeah, because they only had two—you’ve got two games in between and you’re
usually working off at least a four-game initial break and you’re watching everything from
the season, but in your break, you’re talking four-to-six game break. And so, we’re right in
the break when you’re showing players your cutups and you’re showing them okay, these
are the third-down coverages, red zone, whatever, we’re in those cutups. So, they’re
constantly seeing that game.”
(On the biggest takeaway from the first against the Colts) “Offensively, I think early on it was
just starting faster. We started fast, we moved it alright, we had a good first drive going, we
just faltered there on that drive, and then the complimentary football showed up again
where we get the turnover, score, boom, now we’re rolling. And we’ve seen that movie a few
times and so that’s a good thing. But offensively, specifically, just sustaining early on,
struggled the other day against Denver to get going on those first two drives. Credit them as
well for playing good defense, but I think that’s something we’ve got to look at, making sure
that we start fast, especially going on the road knowing that they’ve been able to start fast a
little bit as a team all year and with Philip playing quarterback now. And then defensively, I
thought we stopped the run really well and played the run very well, and that’s something
we’ve got to do again this week and do a great job in the back end.”
(On if he likes the Texans playing Saturday the potential to clinch the division on Sunday)
“No. Don’t care where they’re playing.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s ability as a runner) “He’s keeping his eyes down the field, I think
at a higher rate as well, in terms of when you’re able to get out and extend, that makes you
so much more dangerous as a quarterback. Where you’re in the pocket, and all of us want
the play to be executed within the timing and rhythm. That’s for the quarterback to stay
upright, that’s for the plays to be able to be on time to catch and run and all those things.
But so much I think about playing this position is feel, is living in the gray and that’s such a
thing I think for quarterbacks when they’re playing with that free mind and just going out
and competing. That’s football. That’s what you see in high school all the time, you see it in
Pop Warner, you see in college, it’s part of the game. Scramble, making plays, extending,
guys, alright, I saw him break off, I’m breaking off my route and I’m just going to go find
space. Like, that’s backyard, that’s playing football, that’s winning football. And so, I think
that’s harder to defend than when, okay, the quarterback’s always in time and in rhythm.
You know the ball’s coming out in this time period and you’re able to make them defend
more and longer.”
(On RB Travis Etienne Jr.) “Yeah, T.J.’s [Etienne Jr.] he’s very prideful about what he can do.
He is, and he’s always kind of nudged, throwing little comments at me about throwing him
the ball more and we’ve listened in some ways. He’s able to make plays in space, win those
one-on-one matchups. And I’m excited for T.J. this week especially, and during these next
few games here. For us to get our run game going again and get it to where it really needs to
be, it’s an all 11 approach. And it also involves his patience, his footwork, his landmarks,
his reads, and man, when he’s on that’s when we can be really dangerous. So, I’ve really
appreciated T.J.’s work ethic this year, the way that he has approached every week, the way
that he competes on Sundays. And so, we’re going to continue to need that.”
(On what teams have been doing to successfully counter the run game) “It’s a little bit of a
combination I think of, okay, you’re a running team, if you will, early on in the season. And
the pass game was the thing that needed to catch up in a lot of ways. And then you take
time and detail and work on some of those things, and then you look at, okay, what is our
quarterback doing well, and wanting to continue to foster that. And early on we were seeing
probably a little bit more single high because we were running it more and a little bit more
man coverage, which now you’re saying as a coach, well they got one more than we really
want to have to block. Let’s try to throw it. As we start to maybe do that better and see
maybe a little bit more honest coverages and structures, then we’ve got to make sure we
pick and choose the right spots to be able to get those off. But we also have to sustain
blocks longer at the first and second level, we’ve got to finish better. We also need to block
well on the perimeter, which I think our wide outs did a really nice job last week of actually
blocking on the perimeter. But those are things that it’s not just one guy and it’s not just one
play or scheme. It’s okay making sure that you’re trying to run it versus shell if you can, but
man, they got an extra hat in there, who cares? We’ve got to make them miss; we’ve got to
make a block, whatever it is. I think it just, sometimes it’s this (motions), but for us to really
go where we need to go, that needs to balance out.”
(On how big of a focus Colts DT DeForest Buckner is) “Yeah, watched him a ton when I was
out in L.A. against him and Arik [DT Arik Armstead] in there, and man, those were brutal
times for us trying to game plan for those guys. So, a lot of respect for him as a player and
it’s just that length that you really have to understand as a guard, as a center, wherever
you’re at, inside against him. We get a great dose of it in some ways with Arik and
understanding that, but every player’s their own. They’re different in their own ways, but got
to be prepared for his length, especially with tipped balls and quick game, drop back,
getting his hands down and then man, he had some good get offs the other night in the run
game and getting the line of scrimmage going back that way. So definitely in our thoughts
and preparation.”
(On making positives despite plays going off course) “Not that much. It’s happened maybe
a little bit more, I’d say over the, I guess you could call it since the BYE. I don’t know, some
ways, but that was a situation, it was a zero deal. It was a pressure check and Jakobi [WR
Jakobi Meyers] got it, Parker [WR Parker Washington] didn’t but I think he started to realize
as he was running his initial route, what it was, and so he just got to the spot that he was
supposed to end up getting to. So that’s cool to see, so it’s like, alright guys, hey, we need to
get the check, but great. Great being a football player and getting to the right spot and the
quarterback trusting that you’re going to be in the right spot and that’s cool to see. So, it
allows us to keep coaching, and it was loud, it was all that, and that’s great learning
experience for us. How is our hand signal? Where are we at with that? The communication,
echoing it as you get it, whatever it is, we can coach off it, but great to see guys going out
and making plays.”
(On if he has reflected on his first season) “Haven’t had a ton of that time to reflect on. I’m
proud of this team. I’m proud of how we’re trying to do things for sure and the guys make it
really fun, so that’s the fun part about being a coach or a teacher is when you see the
people that you’re working with improve that’s fulfilling for sure. So, it’s a fun group to be
around.”
QUARTERBACK TREVOR LAWRENCE
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2025
(On the team having one Pro Bowl selection) “Happy for Ross [LS Ross Matiscik], man.
Good for Ross. I am happy for Ross. Guy works hard and he’s been playing great for a while,
so happy for him. It is what it is. Not surprised necessarily, that we only have one just kind
of based off the whole noise around our season, but that’s not why you play. Obviously, it’s
great to get acknowledged for that and like I said, happy for Ross and the guys that have got
credited for that. But that’s not why we play.”
(On if it will be brought up for motivation among the team) “Who knows? I don’t know.
Obviously, guys see that and know and I’m sure guys feel certain ways about it because you
do take pride in your play and being recognized for it is something. I don’t know how
important it’s to everybody, everybody’s different, but at the end of the day, we’re here to
win games and we’ve been able to do that as of recently pretty well. So, we’ve got to
continue to take it one week at a time, keep that our main focus. The rest will take care of
itself. We’re all playing for something bigger than that and we’ve got to stick together, and
like our group.”
(On if the production of multiple targets is due to the gameplan or taking what the defense
gives) “To be honest, it’s a little bit of both, but I would say—I don’t know, I don’t think
there’s a week necessarily you go into it where you’re like, oh man, this guy’s going to for
sure have a big game with our guys. Fortunately, we have guys, really good players at really
every position, especially that touch the ball. You look at our wideouts and our tight ends
and our running backs. So, there’s really no telling whose day it’s going to be. Coverage
dictates that. Some plays turn into scrambles and broken plays turn into big plays; on
Sunday, there was a couple of those. So, it’s hard to say what it’s going to be, but you have
an idea of maybe it’s like specific third down, red zone, some areas where guys may maybe
have a few more opportunities, but it’s kind of just played out that way for whatever reason
the last few weeks. But it’s a credit to everybody being ready because you never know who’s
going to get more opportunities a certain day. Sometimes that’s just how the game goes
and you get fed the rock and obviously Parker [WR Parker Washington] did a lot of great
things when he got the ball.”
(On if he played his best game of the season on Sunday) “I hope I keep getting that
question. That means I keep playing well every week. So, I thought as an offense, we did a
lot of good things. I think there’s a lot of stuff, honestly, that we need to clean up. Just some
detailed things that we’ve talked about today and kind of rehashed a little bit. But as far as
making plays in big moments and guys making, whether it’s contested catches, obviously
giving them a ball they can catch, putting it near them. Up front we protected really well.
Just guys stepping up in a big game. Obviously it was a big game and it was a big matchup
for us on the road in a tough environment and I was just proud of the way we really
answered the call. And it started off really poorly too with the first two series, we were a
little bit out of sorts, two three and outs and we were able to bounce back and continue to
play and stick together. So that’s what I was mostly proud about. And obviously this part of
the season, quarterback’s got to play well if you’re going to win, so I’ve got to continue to do
my part and, and I know guys will do it around me too.”
(On how many times he’s watch his dive on his scramble for the first down) “I’ve seen it a
few times. Yeah, it looks pretty funny. Marissa [Lawrence] showed it to me, and was like,
‘What are you doing here?’ I was like, ‘Trying to get the first down.’ She was like, ‘Well, you
already had it.’ I’m like, ‘Well you can’t tell when it’s live.’ It looked pretty funny though.”
(On how important using his legs has been this season) “Yeah, it’s important. I think
obviously the goal is to always distribute the ball on time and when you can, that’s the most
efficient typically, kind of limit the pass rush, get the ball out of your hands, get the guys in
space that can go and run better than I can. But when plays break down because defenses
are good, whether it’s pass rush or coverage, you’ve got to be able to extend some plays
and make scramble plays, throwing the ball or with my legs and it’s definitely helped us. I
think it’s always keeping that balance of still making the plays that are there without getting
out of the pocket too soon or looking to scramble. So, I always think there’s a balance with
that, but it’s definitely a weapon and I think it’s helped us and got to continue to use it at the
right times.”
(On how much Head Coach Liam Coen has worked to use his legs) “Yeah, he’s been great.
Liam and our whole staff, the way we’ve been game planning, I think really we’re doing a lot
of different things that put the defense in a bind, whether that’s our running game,
obviously the pass game stuff, we’ve had some unique, some cool stuff that we’ve done the
last few weeks and really throughout the season. And I think overall we’re executing better.
The game planning process has stayed pretty consistent the whole season. And I think one
thing they do a good job of is giving us all the answers as players. So, we have a lot of
opportunities to get in the right play and have answers versus the right look. And I think
that’s something where we’ve been able to maximize the last few weeks and be in a good
play versus the right coverage and the right defense and have answers. And that’s on us too
as players to learn all this stuff because it puts more on your plate but come Sunday it
helps you.”
(On if he has admiration for playing Colts QB Philip Rivers) “Yeah, it will be cool. I have a ton
of respect for Philip. A guy that obviously is an all-time great quarterback in this league, and
obviously he’s coming back and playing. It’s been impressive to see what he’s done the last
few weeks. I think obviously there’s no limit to what you can do, but obviously at that age
people probably thought a certain thing about how he’s going to play and he’s been playing
really well. So, it’s been cool to watch. Obviously, look forward to saying what’s up to him
after the game, talking to him, meeting him. Never got a chance to meet him. So, excited
about that and it’ll be fun. It’ll be a fun one, so it’ll be cool.
(On how playing at 44 would feel) “No, I really can’t imagine. Got to give props to him for
what he is doing. It is pretty incredible. So, I know there’s days where I don’t feel great and
I’m a lot younger, so he’s doing a great job.”
