Liam Coen Explains Jaguars' Unexpected Inactive vs. Panthers

The Jacksonville Jaguars saw a lot from their players in the team's Week 1 victory over the Carolina Panthers, but there was one notable absence.

Carolina Panthers head coach Liam Coen holds his hand over his heart during the national anthem at an NFL football game between the Carolina Panthers at Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium Sunday September 7, 2025. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] | Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars had a very encouraging first game of the 2025 NFL season against the Carolina Panthers. They were favored coming into the clash, but outplayed expectations, easily covering the spread and dominating their opponent practically wire to wire.

There were plenty of optimistic signs from this team in nearly every facet of the game. The offensive line and running attack were spectacular all afternoon. Kicker Cam Little went 4-for-4 on field goals, hitting from 28, 35, 36, and 47 yards. The defense held the Panthers to just 10 points and 255 total yards of offense.

Carolina converted just eight of their 15 third downs and went 0-for-2 on fourth downs. The Jaguars' defense also forced three turnovers and could have had a fourth if Andrew Wingard's pick-six hadn't been called back due to an unrelated holding call on the other side of the field. All in all, Head Coach Liam Coen and Defensive Coordinator Anthony Campanile had plenty to be proud of from their D's performance in Week 1.

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Maason Smith (94) stretches during an NFL training camp seventh session at the Miller Electric Center, Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] | Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jaguars' D-line shows up despite absence

A large part of the credit belongs to the defensive line's performance in the Jacksonville Jaguars' season opener versus the Carolina Panthers. They only came away with one sack on Bryce Young, but had 15 pressures, seven hurries, and five hits. They were able to get in the backfield consistently and make life difficult on Carolina's quarterback.

They also held Chuba Hubbard to just 57 yards on 16 carries for an average of 3.6 yards per attempt. Jacksonville gave up just one explosive run for a gain of 10 or more.

Dec 29, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Maason Smith (94) sacks Tennessee Titans quarterback Mason Rudolph (11) under pressure from center Corey Levin (62) during the fourth quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

What happened to Maason Smith?

The Jaguars' dominance in the trenches was a group effort, with Josh Hines-Allen, Dawuane Smoot, Khalen Saunders, and others all recording tackles for the D-line. Head Coach Liam Coen has repeatedly preached the importance of depth and fresh legs. Unfortunately, Jacksonville was down one key member on the defensive line with Maason Smith getting a late scratch. Coen believes that he'll be contributing to the Jaguars soon, though:

"I think it came down to lack of reps and opportunities throughout the training camp. It did feel like we had some guys that have been able to reduce down a little bit with [Dawuane Smoot] and [Emmanuel Ogbah] and Austin Johnson that have played a lot. I think it's just going to take, I'm not going say how long, I don't know. We want to get him out there and want to get him going."

Maason Smith gets himself a Sack, pure power from the middle pic.twitter.com/er3ulQ7vnH

— Fitz (@LaurieFitzptrck) December 22, 2024

"It's a guy that we have confidence moving forward with that we want to get into the fold. It was just a matter of, I don't want to say numbers, but with the lack of sample size that we had going into Week 1 with having to try to create numbers for the active roster is kind of just how it played out. We fully expect him to continue to grow, continue to go in the right direction, and help us contribute.”

Smith started five games for the Jaguars last season after Jacksonville took him in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Hopefully, he'll be back soon and earn his keep as a playmaker for this defense.

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