Liam Coen, Jaguars Frankly Don't Care About Intentions

The Jaguars were extra locked in for the Broncos, leading to a dominant 34-20 win. Other opponents might want to learn from Sean Payton.

Dec 7, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen stands on the field during the first half against the Indianapolis Colts at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Travis Register-Imagn Images | Travis Register-Imagn Images

Well, we probably won't see many more opponents call the Jacksonville Jaguars a small-market team. Denver Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton made that mistake ahead of his Week 16 chess match with Liam Coen. His comments, potentially well-meaning, gave Coen and his team all the motivation they needed to end the Broncos' win streak at 11 games with a 34-20 drubbing.

The Jaguars are used to being the underdogs. Their reputation was earned in the past two decades of this franchise's history. However, they don't want anyone switching up on them now. The bandwagon is all sold out, and anyone who got in early should be counting their lucky stars. Coen has already made it clear that he doesn't want any belated respect anymore.

Sep 28, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen (center) shakes hands with San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan (right) after the game at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Liam Coen is the right kind of intense

We've all heard the mythos of Michael Jordan, a six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls and arguably still the greatest to ever grace a basketball court over 20 years after he hung up his sneakers for good. MJ had all the talent in the world, evidenced by his impeccable footwork, his buttery midrange jumper, and his ridiculous hangtime. However, the trait people associate with him the most is his competitiveness.

One thing that Jordan's famous for is inventing ways to keep himself motivated when he had the league in an absolute stranglehold.

He'd imagine slights against him from opposing players, just to rile himself up and ensure that he had the fire necessary to enact unwarranted revenge. When Sean Payton called the Jacksonville Jaguars a small-market team, it was in the middle of a quote about how they can't be taken lightly. Head Coach Liam Coen didn't see it that way, though, according to Travon Walker:

"A small market team like us can come into Mile High and get it done."#JAXvsDEN pic.twitter.com/2V2i8UiKrO

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) December 22, 2025

"Yeah, Liam had a problem with that for sure, and I like the energy that he comes with. What'd he say? Something about small market. He didn't like that little brother feel, maybe. Maybe they had some beef going from before that, but obviously that's the mindset he came out with through the week. And the untrained eye might say, ‘Oh, that was just a nice comment. I thought he called us a good team,’ but we don't like the little brother feel. So that's really the kind of energy that he brought to the locker room this week."

"And then obviously as leaders on the team, we have our own little things that we tell the team throughout the week, and we're a fighting team, where we're ready to fight all the way through the season because a lot of people kind of doubted us and still doubt us or are expecting us to lose eventually at some point. So, it’s like we’ve got to stop looking at [the] outside and just keep looking inward and appreciate these wins for the work that we put out throughout the week."

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