Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen answers questions during a press conference after the fourth organized team activity at the Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. Tuesday, May 27, 2025. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]Jacksonville Jaguars during the fourth organized team activity at the Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. Tuesday, May 27, 2025. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

How Jaguars Are Already Gaining a Week 1 Advantage

Originally posted on Jacksonville Jaguars on SI
By John Shipley | Last updated Aug 30, 2025 2:00 PM ET

There is still a week left until the Jacksonville Jaguars kick off a new era, but they are already catching some lucky breaks when it comes to their Week 1 foe.

The Carolina Panthers are not exactly a high-powered passing offense, with the strides made last year by Bryce Young taking him from one of the NFL's worst starting quarterbacks to an improved but still flawed signal-caller.

As a result, Young's supporting cast is more important than it is for quarterbacks who elevate and transcend their offense. And right now, Young's supporting cast is taking a beating.

The Panthers traded away an aging but still productive security blanket earlier this week when they dealt Adam Thielen to the Minnesota Vikings. Now, the Panthers have lost another starting receiver for Week 1.

Week 1 Luck

According to The Athletic's Joe Person, second-year receiver Jalen Coker will miss Week 1 after sustaining a quad injury.

Jalen Coker expected to miss 4-6 weeks, per league source. He pulled his quad running a deep ball on 1-on-1s.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) August 30, 2025

Considering Coker flashed more than fellow Panthers' second-year receiver Xavier Leggette -- who struggled mightedly as a rookie -- this is a serious blow for Week 1.

The Panthers did draft Arizona Wildcats star Tetairoa McMillan in the first-round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and it now appears the Panthers are going to put their entire passing game on his plate.

With training camp now behind them, the Jaguars have put their complete focus on the Panthers -- and so far, they have gotten only good news about the matchup this week.

“It's really cool. You take the job and so much has kind of occurred since you haven't been able to play a game yet and that's ultimately what we are judged by, right, is wins and losses at the end of the day. You're really more excited to see these guys go play," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said this week.

"Win or loss, you want to just see, okay, what's our resiliency like? What is our response like? Get guys in games and typically you see one thing or the other. There's guys that will impress us that may we might not have seen yet. I mean, that's just game day, anything can happen. So I'm just excited to see these guys go out and play with joy, with urgent enjoyment, and go play with each other and see how they respond to adversity, how we all respond to adversity.”

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This article first appeared on Jacksonville Jaguars on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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