JACKSONVILLE – Senior writer John Oehser, senior correspondent Brian Sexton and team reporter Kainani Stevens offer quick thoughts on the Jaguars’ 26-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers in a 2025 Week 1 game at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville Sunday

John Oehser, Jaguars Senior Writer…

  1. Wow. Just wow. We have an entire regular season and many weeks to analyze Xs and Os. We’ll use this early quick thought to emphasize what must be emphasized – that if you’re a Jaguars fan, Sunday’s debut of the Head Coach Liam Coen era was fun. Really, really fun. “It feels great, the direction we’re heading,” quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. The Jaguars on Sunday not only did what they wanted on offense, which was to establish – and dominate with – the run, they also accomplished a major preseason goal by forcing three takeaways. Two of those takeaways led to 10 first-half points, with the Jaguars leading 20-3 at halftime with 134 rushing yards and a 262-121 yardage advantage. Lawrence looked solid throughout. The Jaguars overall overcame adversity well. The run defense did a nice job against a team that considers itself a good running team. And the Jaguars’ team speed – particularly on offense – showed itself enough to make you think it could be a strength moving forward. “We’ve got to keep doing it,” Lawrence said. “Consistency is what will be the difference, and we have to continue to prepare and play well.” Lawrence is right. One victory guarantees nothing for the long-term. But if you’re a Jaguars fan, you haven’t had enough fun days in recent seasons. Having one to open a new regime was cool.
  2. A good, good start. The phrase “good start” applied to many Jaguars areas Sunday. Lawrence. A defense that played big in a lot of big moments. The way the team handled a 66-minute weather delay. But we’re using “good start” here to discuss an offensive line that was a major storyline entering Sunday. “Those guys up front I thought played really well at times,” Coen said. First: Lawrence was not sacked Sunday, and appeared at first glance to be well-protected for the most part. “I really did feel like they were protecting their tails off,” Coen said. “I didn’t feel like he was under a ton of duress. I thought those guys did a nice in protection.” Second: The Jaguars rushed for 200 yards on 32 carries, with running back Travis Etienne Jr. rushing for 143 yards on 16 carries. “The guys up front, the most selfless guys we got, and they just are grinding it out,” Lawrence said. “We ran it a lot, and they wanted to keep doing it, and they did a great job moving people. We were ready. We had a good plan.” The Jaguars spent a lot of the offseason focused on revamping the offensive line. A solid start for the group is a good sign moving forward.