NFL

Thursday’s worst kept secret is now (basically) official. FOX’s Jordan Schultz reports the Jags are “so impressed” with Coen the sides will now “collaborate on the team’s new GM as well.” If that seems insane, it was clear it would be the outcome after the Jags’ stunning Trent Baalke about-face and immediate resumption of talks with Coen. A wizard with Baker Mayfield in Tampa this season — though, let’s be real, Mayfield deserves a lot of the credit after getting back-to-back OCs head-coaching gigs — Coen is strangely no stranger to coaching intrigue, as he left the University of Kentucky for the Rams in 2022 only to return to UK in 2023. It was then off to Tampa where he picked up where Dave Canales left off, overseeing an even more explosive offense. Still only 39 years old, Coen fits the league’s current preferred mold of first-time head-coaching hires. Young, and an offensive play-caller. We’ll see about Coen’s leadership skills. The supposed skullduggery he engaged in with the Bucs this week is mildly concerning. Tasks 1, 2 and 3 for Coen in 2025 will be getting Trevor Lawrence’s career back on the right track.

This escalated quickly shortly after the firing of former general manager Trent Baalke. Schultz notes that barring something unexpected, the 39-year-old is expected to land the opportunity to turn Jacksonville around after their disastrous 2024 campaign. While short on experience, the Buccaneers offense was strong under Coen, and he’ll get to work with a healthy Trevor Lawrence, Brian Thomas Jr. and a few other solid — if unspectacular — weapons on offense.

Saleh was widely considered to be the favorite to get the Jaguars head coaching gig not long ago, but it appears that Liam Coen will be the one who gets that job now that Trent Baalke isn’t in the way. It’d be a return to San Francisco for Saleh, as he was the DC under Mike Shanahan from 2017-2020 before taking over for the Jets. Saleh has had plenty of success leading defenses, and assuming this happens, it should be an upgrade for the 49ers’ group.

Well then. Just days after signing a contract extension to remain with the Buccaneers, the ousting of Jaguars GM Trent Baalke appears to have caught the attention of Coen. It’s hard to know for sure how much of an impact Baalke’s presence appears to have had on the Jaguars this coaching cycle, but Coen’s willingness to again entertain the job nearly 24 hours after Baalke’s dismissal speaks volumes. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Coen and Jacksonville “appears to be headed towards a deal.” Apparently already in town and speaking with owner Shad Khan, we’ll see how quickly a deal gets done between the two sides.

The star rookie corner was knocked from last week’s divisional round matchup against the Rams but is well on his way to playing in the conference championship game against the Commanders. The Eagles defense will need all hands on deck if it hopes to slow Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, and an offense that totaled four offensive touchdowns in last week’s win over the Lions. Barring an unexpected turn of events, it sounds like we can expect Mitchell to be on the field come Sunday. He’ll have a chance to log another full practice on Friday before the team releases its final injury report for the week.

Brown was limited on Wednesday but said he was feeling better. That appears to be the case, as the Eagles’ star receiver was upgraded to a full participant in Thursday’s practice and has a chance to be removed from the injury report entirely by Friday. The Eagles have been managing Brown’s injury for the last several weeks in hopes of having him at his best come game day. He’ll be ready to go for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Commanders.

You can’t ask for much more than that. Just days after suffering a knee injury in the NFC Divisional Round against the Rams, Hurts went from being limited on Wednesday to a full participant on Thursday. His availability for the NFC Championship was never going to be in question, but how his knee will affect his mobility and ability to evade pressure will be something to watch.

This news comes after head coach Nick Sirianni said Goedert would practice today. Instead, Goedert has started the week with back-to-back DNPs, which casts some doubt over his availability for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Commanders. While two straight absences is concerning, we can’t blame teams for wanting to exercise caution with any injured players. Tomorrow’s final injury report should offer better clarity on where his availability stands heading into the weekend.

Fiske suffered his knee injury in the Rams’ divisional round loss to the Eagles. According to Rams beat writer Stu Jackson, Fiske’s injury won’t impact his availability for the start of next season, which is great news for the 2024 rookie second-round rounder. Fiske totaled 8.5 sacks and 10 TFLs this season and will enter next year with high expectations following a strong rookie campaign.

According to Archer, Diggs had chondral tissue graft surgery, which is a surgery that involves removing damaged cartilage and replacing it with a tissue graft. Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones said in December that he’s hopeful Diggs can return by the start of 2025 after it was announced he would be out for the season, but now, it sounds like his availability at the start of camp is officially in question. We’re months away from knowing how this could truly impact the upcoming season for Diggs, but it’s something to keep in mind as training camp draws closer this summer. There’s a good chance we’ll learn more on his recovery before then.