When Liam Coen was named the head coach of the Jaguars, he had three main priorities to improve the offense,
They were establishing a good running game, improving the line to help the running game and protect the quarterback.
Two games is a small sample size, but Coen appears to have accomplished two of the goals. They lead the league in rushing and, according to analyst Warren Sharp, they are seventh in the league in protecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
But the passing game is a work in progress. Lawrence makes too many errant throws and the receivers either drop too many passes or don’t run routes well. Sharp said a third of his incompletions are due to receiver error.
According to Sharp, the receivers drop 11 percent of his passes, which is most in the league, and 21 percent of the drops are in the red zone. The result is that Lawrence is completing slightly less than 59 percent of his passes overall.
And it is not like Coen is asking for big throws. He likes the short passing game, and 32 percent of the throws are behind or at the line of scrimmage.
Also, while Travis Hunter has proved he can play two positions, former receiver Steve Smith Sr. says Hunter must learn to run better routes. And Brian Thomas Jr. has yet to show the form he did as a rookie and sometimes acts as if he is wary to get hit.
With a critical division game coming up Sunday against Houston, it’s time for the Jaguars to get their passing game rolling. A victory would put the Jaguars at 2-1 and the Texans at 0-3. The Colts will be 3-0 if they beat the Titans.
But the Jaguars have to upgrade their passing game to beat the Texans.
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