Liam Coen accepts full blame for Jaguars delay penalties

Coen takes blame for London mistakes

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen has taken full responsibility for the three delay of game penalties called against his team during Sunday's match against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Coen revealed on Wednesday that he told his players the infractions were directly on him. The coach promised to send in play calls much faster and adjust his communication to prevent similar problems when Jacksonville faces the Houston Texans on Sunday at Wembley Stadium.

Coen admitted that the atmosphere inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was extremely loud. Although the fixture was officially listed as a home game for Jacksonville, the crowd was filled with a majority of Eagles supporters who made plenty of noise during key moments.

How the penalty problems hurt Jacksonville

The communication issues surfaced early and resurfaced late in the contest. On Jacksonville's opening drive, a delay of game penalty pushed the team back to a second and 40 situation, following a holding penalty and a sack on previous plays.

The troubles became worse late in the fourth quarter. Jacksonville had advanced down the field to earn a first and goal situation at the Philadelphia 1 yard line. However, the offense was hit with two delay of game penalties within a span of just three plays.

Following the second penalty, quarterback Trevor Lawrence was visibly frustrated and angrily threw the football straight into the ground. The drive eventually stalled at the 5 yard line, ending when Lawrence threw an incomplete pass intended for receiver Jakobi Meyers.

Simplifying the offense going forward

These mistakes were very uncharacteristic for Jacksonville during Coen's time with the team. Across his three season tenure, the Jaguars had never committed more than one delay of game penalty in a single match, picking up only four total penalties of that kind over that whole span.

To fix the issue, Coen wants to shorten his call terms and simplify what he calls near the end zone. He explained that trimming down the verbiage will help the offense operate far more smoothly in loud environments during critical downs.