Expect More of Jaguars' New Secret Weapon After Week 9

The Jacksonville Jaguars have pressed a lot of different buttons to try to get this offense clicking. Head Coach Liam Coen's arrival offered a lot of promise for a unit that already featured some high-profile talent between players like Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne Jr., and Brian Thomas Jr.

However, they haven't been close to the explosive attack that many expected them to be in this new system. As such, Coen has tinkered a lot with this offense, both with the personnel and the schemes. Whether it's been drawing up more plays for Travis Hunter Jr., shifting the focus to the running game, or encouraging T-Law to use his legs more, the Jaguars have thrown a lot at the wall to see what sticks.

In Week 9, they came out of the gate sluggishly after their bye, scoring just three points in the first half against the Las Vegas Raiders, thanks to an NFL-record 68-yard field goal from Cam Little. Thankfully, they were able to turn it on after the intermission, leading to a roaring fourth-quarter comeback and a clutch, one-point win in overtime.

Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL, Seattle Seahawks, Travis Etienne Jr. — Oct 12, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne (1) warms up before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

Will the Jaguars deploy the Wildcat more?

At times this season, people have pondered why Travis Etienne Jr. wasn't getting the rock more. As a dual-threat running back, he seemed to be a perfect fit for Liam Coen's system, capable of pounding away on the ground, as well as making an impact as a receiver through the air.

His versatile skill set made it perplexing how often he'd disappear in games this year, especially considering how dominant he looked at times. Against the Las Vegas Raiders, though, the Jacksonville Jaguars found a new way to increase his usage, while unlocking a lethal red zone weapon: the Wildcat. According to Offensive Coordinator Grant Udinski, this is something the team has been working on for a while now:

"It's not a check, it's not anything, it's getting the ball directly in Etienne's hands and letting him go do something with it."

Coach Coen on running the wildcat. pic.twitter.com/VdGRIX9YKu
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) November 4, 2025

"Like Liam mentioned, it's over the course of weeks of getting all of those reps. I don't know if I could pinpoint an exact time where you say, 'Okay, now you're exactly a hundred percent comfortable.' It certainly wasn't the first time. But after a couple of weeks with a guy like that, who is able to learn and do things at a high level, do new things especially, you feel pretty confident after a couple of reps when he does it consistently at a high level and is able to execute cleanly.

"Of course, we're trying to mitigate as much risk as possible, so we probably over-prepared and made sure that we had more reps than maybe we needed. But after a couple good reps and seeing those guys do it and really him practicing with a couple different guys and a couple different iterations of it, [we] felt good about showing those plays and going out there and executing them in some crunch-time moments on Sunday."

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