JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said finding and fixing the problems -- what he called "the stink" -- that were covered up by 13 victories and an AFC South title in 2025 is critical if the Jaguars are going to be better in 2026.
One of the stinks that bothered him the most was the lack of production in the run game in the second part of the season. Yards per game and yards per carry dropped drastically in the final six weeks and they can't have that inconsistency again, even as they work to replace their top ball carrier.
After averaging 128.1 rushing yards per game (eighth in the NFL) and 4.4 yards per carry (16th) in Weeks 1-12, the Jaguars averaged 91.2 yards per game (27th) and 3.3 yards per carry (31st) in Weeks 13-18.
"If we attack it with the same exact mindset and mentality in both the run and the pass, we're going to end up where we ended up last year and that's not good enough," Coen said. "So for us to click on all cylinders, both the run and the pass marriage is important. And I'm not saying we're going to rush for 130 every single week for 17 weeks. That's not realistic.
"... If we want to be great, if we want to go to the next level, if we want to win playoff games, we have to be clicking on all cylinders."
Some of the cylinders have changed in the run game. Travis Etienne Jr., who led the Jaguars with 1,107 yards rushing last season, signed with the New Orleans Saints in free agency. The Jaguars in turn signed Chris Rodriguez Jr., who rushed for 920 yards and 10 touchdowns in three seasons with the Washington Commanders, to help replace Etienne, the third-leading rusher in franchise history (3,798 yards).
There also will be expanded roles for Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen Jr., both of whom contributed significantly as rookies last season. Tuten ran for 307 yards and five TDs and caught 10 passes for two more TDs, while Allen worked mainly on third down because he was the best pass blocker.
"I'm always ready for it," Tuten said. "I know my role might increase significantly, but I've just got to prepare myself and go out there and just take it play by play, just harping on the details and let my play talk for itself.
"Just knowing that they're thinking about different ways to give me the ball and make it easier on me to just go out there and play fast."
Allen is eager for a bigger role after touching the ball only 33 times on offense (23 carries).
"I'm excited [about] what I can bring to the table more with running the ball, catching the ball, and on special teams, too," Allen said. "Just showing that I can play all over the field when the ball is snapped."
There won't be a glimpse of just how the Jaguars plan to divvy up the touches until training camp because Rodriguez missed most of the offseason activities after undergoing a procedure on his left foot.
Veterans Ameer Abdullah and DeeJay Dallas and rookie J'Mari Taylor also are in the mix.
"It's a wide-open room," Coen said. "The guys that we have in the room, all three of them are going to be better when you play 11-on-11 tackle football than right now in t-shirts and shorts. Their game is based on physicality, toughness, breaking tackles, extra yards, the hidden yards in a game that we're just not going to see out here."
Coen is a big believer in those hidden yards, which are tracked as rushing yards over expectation. The Jaguars weren't very good at that last season: They notched just 37 rushing yards over expectation all season, which ranked 25th according to NFL Next Gen Stats. For comparison, the Buffalo Bills led the league with 531 yards and 14 teams had at least 200.
That's partly why the Jaguars liked Rodriguez. He had 78 yards over expectation -- two more than Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley -- last season alone.
"Rushing yards over expected and yards after contact is what I give a crap about personally," Coen said. "Because it's like, what are you doing outside of what we're blocking? And what does that look like? Because I can't coach that. The guys that break tackles at a high level, whether it's via [making a move], whether it's with stiff arms, jumping over them, running through them, I don't care how you do it. I just care that you do it, because I can't coach it."
Coen is banking on improvement there to help avoid the drop-off that happened last season.
"[If we] come out in practice and [are] harping on the details and being consistent in practice I think we'll start to be consistent in the stadium," Tuten said. "Thinking about our landmarks, the press, where the cut's going to be, and understanding the run game overall is the biggest thing we're paying attention to this year.
"We kind of tailed off at the end of the season last year, so this year we're trying to come in and keep it consistent throughout the whole season."