Jaguars' Liam Coen Discusses Maason Smith's Injury Absence

The Jacksonville Jaguars were preparing for their 2025 Training Camp Schedule at the Miller Electric Training Center in Jacksonville with great enthusiasm for a resurgence in defensive line play. Last season, the defense was ranked 27th in the NFL, but the progress that defensive tackle Maason Smith was showing in OTAs was more than encouraging.

Then Tuesday happenned.

Smith, who was drafted by the Jaguars out of LSU in the 2024 NFL Draft, landed on the Active/PUP list due to some sort of injury.

Placement with a designation of Active/Physically Unable to Perform does not mean that Smith will be prohibited from returning, in fact, he can be back in training camp, once medically cleared.

On Wednesday after practice, Head Coach Liam Coen addressed the media regarding the first practice session in camp of his head coaching career. When asked by the media throng about the timeline for a return to practice for his valuable defender, Coen was optimistic that he would see Smith again very soon.

“Yeah. I don't think extremely long. It's not a major issue," said Coen. "It's a little bit more precautionary. You know, just tweaked it kind of the week of camp."

However, besides praising the work that Smith has done so far in offseason programs, Coach Coen's informational offering wasn't very clear.

"He had a great off-season. He worked his tail off. He was here a ton. He was in great shape. Worked his tail off, so it was a little bit of a bummer, obviously, but it's a little bit more precautionary. Could he go and play in a game this week? Who knows? But, it won't be too long.”

As for the exact part of Smith's body that was tweaked, the nature of the alarm still has mysteriously not been released.

Smith is a valuable piece of the Jaguars' puzzle of success. On a recent podcast, Jacksonville Jaguars on SI Lead Beat Writer John Shipley detailed what Smith brings to the defense.

"Maason Smith will set the tone for the ceiling of that room. However, if Smith can take his end-of-year flashes and turn them into sustainable, effective, and efficient play for the Jaguars along the interior defensive line, he will completely redefine the value and makeup of that room. Now, that's a lot of pressure for a second-year guy, but he has the traits. They didn't add anybody else, so he's obviously important," declared Shipley.

While the Jacksonville Jaguars will move forward without Smith for now, a healthy return is definitely desirable in Duval.

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