49ers' Kyle Shanahan Knows Better Than to Take Jaguars Lightly

Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen has a lot of similarities to his direct opponent in Week 4, Kyle Shanahan. Both were hired young to take over their respective teams after an encouraging season as offensive coordinators for heavy-hitting attacks. Coen is coming off a sterling campaign for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2024, while Shanahan was hired by the Niners after he helped lead the Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2016.

Both are now viewed as some of the top play-callers in the NFL. Shanahan got off to a slow start to his head coaching career, winning just six games in his first year at the helm for San Francisco. Coen will be hoping to differ in that aspect.

So far, he's begun his tenure with the Jaguars at 2-1. He's still yet to notch his first road win as an NFL head coach, though, and faces a tough test to do so against the 49ers in Week 4. However, his counterpart isn't taking this matchup lightly either.

Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL, San Francisco 49ers, Head Coach Kyle Shanahan — Nov 12, 2023; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; San Fransisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan walks off the field after the win against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images | Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images

Kyle Shanahan pays his respects to the Jaguars

Kyle Shanahan and his staff have made headlines recently for delivering some questionable sound bites regarding the Jacksonville Jaguars' penchant for identifying opponents' signals this season. It started with Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh, but Shanahan's follow-up comments didn't exactly clear the air, either.

However, the San Francisco 49ers head coach did give some respectable quotes about his Week 4 opponent ahead of the matchup. He told NBC Sports Bay Area that he doesn't want anyone to consider the contest against the Jaguars as a "trap game," denying any notion that his team would be looking ahead to their next week versus the Los Angeles Rams:

"It's so cliche for me, because I end up feeling this way every week, but I feel like this is a game we need to win. You can't lose these types of games. And I know we're going against a very good team. I know there's some situations that we need to overcome, but I've felt the same way these last three weeks. They can go either way. And we're sitting here at 3-0, but just a few misplays, a few little different things, and we could be 0-3."

"This team is a very good team. I think they have a lot of confidence; them beating Houston the way that they did. I know there's a lot of people on their team who know what happened when we played them last. So we're not going to catch them off guard."

That last matchup Shanahan alluded to saw the Jaguars get blown out by the Niners 34-3 at home back in 2023. Several players felt that beatdown first-hand, including quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He and the rest of the team will be hoping to get their revenge in Week 4.

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