The Jaguars spent last season making too many mistakes to ignore. They finished with 128 penalties, tied with the New York Giants for the most in the league, and averaged 7.4 flags per game. Three weeks into 2026, the number has dropped to 15 penalties, tied for the second fewest in the NFL.
That kind of swing does not happen by accident, and Jacksonville is pointing to something far less flashy than a splashy roster overhaul: continuity. Liam Coen said that keeping much of last year’s group together has been a big reason the Jaguars have cleaned up the penalty problem, and the early record backs that up. Jacksonville is 2-1 to start the season.
The same low-drama theme is showing up in the way the Jaguars are being judged on offense. They are now fifth in rushing success rate, a sharp contrast to the way they struggled to pound the football a year ago. And one of the clearest examples of that shift is Nate Boerkircher, the second-round pick who drew plenty of skepticism when Jacksonville took him 56th overall.
The reaction to that selection was loud enough to become part of the story. Numerous voices across the media thought the Jaguars had “lost their intangibly rich minds and jumped the shark” when they drafted Boerkircher. The criticism centered on the idea of using such a high pick on a blocking tight end, even though, in the spirit of fairness, nobody really questioned whether he would help in the run game.
That part has started to matter.
Pro Football Focus described Boerkircher as “a tenacious run blocker with strong competitive toughness,” and Jacksonville’s offense has shown the kind of physical edge that makes that evaluation look more relevant by the week. The Jaguars no longer have trouble pounding the football, and Boerkircher’s physicality has made him look like one of the better fits for the offense.
There is also a broader offensive context around that fit. Coen’s ability to call whatever he wants without tipping his hand to the defense, as one quote put it, has helped the Jaguars limit turnovers and keep possessions alive. That matters in a season where Jacksonville is trying to prove that cleaner football can come from the same roster, not just from a dramatic reset.
So the Jaguars’ early-season progress is being measured in quieter ways than most teams prefer. The penalties are down. The rushing game is up. The record is positive. And Boerkircher, the pick that drew so much eye-rolling in April, is becoming part of the evidence that the Jaguars’ internal answers may be more convincing than the noise around them.