Why Jaguars' Liam Coen is Not Overlooking Titans

For a partial transcription of Coen's comments, read below.

Q: On the opportunity to play four divisional games in the last six games?

Coen: “That is huge. We did talk about it a little bit this morning, obviously, for this game and how important games in November and December are specifically, but even more so when it comes to divisional games that the teams are used to playing each other, know each other a little bit. There's obviously some familiarity with both of these teams and staffs.

So yeah, it's a huge opportunity for us. This is why you play, you get into these parts of the season, everybody's nicked up, everybody's a little bumped and bruised, but it comes down to taking advantage of these opportunities and making the most of them and having that heightened sense of urgency as we get into later November, December games specifically, as we get into these divisional ball games, how important these are. Yeah, we talked about it this morning.”

Q: On the challenges presented by Titans DT Jeffery Simmons?

Coen: “A ton. Man, I'm not saying he is Aaron Donald, but there are some similarities there in terms of his ability to create in both the run and the pass, how quickly some of his wins come, the effort. Showed a clip this morning against Denver where they had double-chip protection, play-action pass, the pocket looked extremely clean for quite some time, and then the ball just kind of got held onto, the routes maybe weren't there yet, and he's going to finish and strain through the echo of the whistle.

Great challenge for us as a group. But he's definitely disruptive, and you can see that he's believing in terms of—they have belief as a team. There's no quit in that team at all right now. They're actually playing better and better.”

Q: On the growth of Titans QB Cam Ward?

Coen: “Makes the throw on third and XL to put them in scoring position against Houston to go tie the game, was an incredible throw last week against Seattle off schedule, moving around more in the pocket, moving outside of the pocket, extending, allowing people to kind of win a little bit more.

He's definitely found, I think, a comfort level in some ways of moving around more, moving within the pocket, extending plays, but also then playing in rhythm when he is in the pocket. You definitely see growth and improvement there as I think we've all maybe thought was going to come and happen for him. So yeah, you can tell he just continues to improve and I think using his legs and extending plays has helped him.”