Surprising as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ run to an AFC South title might have been to some, the most stunning aspect was likely that with all that success, Brian Thomas Jr. was turning in a disappointing year.
Thomas was scintillating as a rookie the year previously, but he didn’t fly to success during his first season in Liam Coen’s offense. Such were Thomas’ struggles that trade rumors swirled.
Thomas is very much a part of Coen’s plans for 2026 and the LSU product has been steadfast in his approach to make 2025 an outlier season rather than a foreshadowing of things to come.
“I think in the spring, very early on, honestly, you could sense that he had really looked at things in areas in which he thought he could improve upon, and he was attacking those areas, and not just, like, yeah, it’ll fix, like, it’ll come,” Coen said Friday, via team transcript. “I thought he was extremely intentional about the things he wanted to improve on, and the connection and relationship with Trevor [Lawrence] and the other receivers.”