JACKSONVILLE – Senior writer John Oehser, senior correspondent Brian Sexton and team reporter Kainani Stevens offer quick thoughts on the Jaguars’ 31-25 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 2025 Preseason Week 1 game at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville Saturday

John Oehser, Jaguars Senior Writer…

  1. Solid start. Jaguars starters played just one series offensively and defensively Saturday – and while Head Coach Liam Coen understandably focused on what must improve from that performance, the thought here was Saturday’s game provided one critical reason for hope: The brief, seven-play performance of quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Entering his fifth season as the Jaguars’ starter, Lawrence is adapting to a new offense with new verbiage and new footwork/fundamentals. That has been a major offseason storyline, and such change this deep into an NFL career isn’t easy. But Lawrence reportedly has adapted well and encouraged coaches with his progress in this area, and during his one series Saturday looked increasingly comfortable in a largely new environment by completing six of seven passes for 43 yards. That series was marked by early and late penalties, and the Jaguars settled for a 41-yard field goal by Cam Little. But Lawrence was accurate, in control and went through his progressions steadily and impressively. That’s an important development as Lawrence develops in Coen’s scheme.
  2. Wow. Little’s 70-yard field goal was absolutely Saturday’s “wow” moment; while accomplishments in preseason games don’t count in the record book, the kick would have been an NFL record – by four yards – had it occurred during the regular season. It also may have on-field ramifications beyond a cool preseason memory. Official or not, the kick showed Jaguars coaches Little is capable of converting whenever the offense nears the 50-yard line. That makes Little a weapon, one a new coaching staff can use. Little said late Saturday night he expects an NFL kicker to make a field goal from more than 70 yards this regular season. Now that Coen and Jaguars coaches have seen it for themselves, here’s guessing Little gets a chance to do it for real in the coming months.