The Jacksonville Jaguars enter their 2026 bye week with a record, control of the AFC South and an issue that threatens to undermine both. Their biggest problem is not a shortage of offensive talent. It is the penalties and procedural mistakes that keep turning scoring opportunities into damage control.
Jacksonville is 4-2 after a 34-31 loss to the Houston Texans in London. That defeat exposed defensive concerns, but it also reinforced a frustrating offensive pattern: the Jaguars are making their own job harder before opponents have to stop them.
For head coach Liam Coen, the Week 7 break should prioritize discipline. Jacksonville does not need to reinvent its offense. It needs to stop sabotaging it.
Penalties are erasing Jacksonville's offensive progress
The most revealing number entering the bye is 32. That is how many penalties Jacksonville accumulated over its last three games, according to ESPN's Michael DiRocco, as cited by Yahoo Sports. Not every flag belongs to the offense, but the offensive mistakes have carried expensive consequences.
Penalties have wiped out three Jaguars touchdowns, including two short scoring runs by Bhayshul Tuten. Jacksonville recovered to score touchdowns after earlier infractions against New England and Cincinnati. Against Houston, that margin for error disappeared.
#Jaguars have had 5 touchdowns called back due to penalties in 6 games this season.
Week 3 vs. Patriots:
* 7 yard pass to Washington
Week 4 at: Bengals:
* 44 yard Tuten run
* 3-yard Tuten run
Week 5 vs. Eagles:
*Cameron kick return
Week 6 vs. Texans:
3-yard Tuten run
— Demetrius Harvey (@Demetrius82) October 18, 2026
A holding penalty on tight end Brenton Strange erased another touchdown. Two plays later, Trevor Lawrence threw an interception in the end zone. In a game decided by three points, that sequence illustrates why discipline deserves top billing during the break.
The previous week's victory over Philadelphia delivered another warning. Two delay-of-game penalties within three plays helped turn first-and-goal from the one into a possession that produced no points.
Those are not merely cosmetic errors attached to an otherwise productive offense. They change play selection, increase the difficulty of passing situations and invite opponents back into games Jacksonville could control.
The defense needs attention after allowing Houston 426 yards. Still, offensive discipline is the clearest fix because Jacksonville can address its communication and execution without waiting for a trade or an injured player to return.
How Liam Coen can fix the problem
Coen should begin with a penalty audit that separates physical mistakes from preventable operational failures. Holding calls require technical corrections and situational judgment. False starts, alignment errors and delay penalties demand cleaner communication and sharper accountability.
Treating every flag as the same problem would miss the point. Coaches should identify who made each mistake, what triggered it and whether the play design or substitution process contributed.
Article Continues BelowThe next priority should be simplifying the operation near the goal line. Jacksonville should build a smaller menu of trusted calls, establish clearer substitution rules and get Lawrence to the line with enough time to assess the defense.
That does not mean abandoning creativity. It means ensuring motion, personnel changes and adjustments serve the offense rather than overwhelm its timing.
Practice should also recreate the situations that have caused breakdowns. Short, competitive periods can emphasize crowd noise, a running play clock and immediate transitions between personnel groups. When a procedural penalty occurs, reset the situation and demand a clean repetition.
For blockers, the emphasis should be legal hand placement, balanced footwork and avoiding desperate grabs when a defender gains leverage. Coaches must reinforce that conceding a small loss is preferable to compounding it with a penalty.
Finally, accountability should be measurable. Jacksonville should track pre-snap penalties, erased scoring plays and possessions pushed backward by flags after the bye.
The Jaguars have shown they can win. Their next step is proving they can execute consistently enough to stop giving away the points that separate contenders from teams with merely promising records.