As Raiders head coach Pete Carroll prepares to go against Jaguars head coach Liam Coen on Sunday, Carroll says his defense will be facing the NFL’s premier offensive scheme.
Coen’s first NFL job was as assistant wide receivers coach under Rams head coach Sean McVay, and Coen was then promoted up to the Rams’ assistant quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator, also getting jobs calling plays at Kentucky and Tampa Bay before becoming the Jaguars’ head coach this year. Carroll says the McVay offensive coaching tree is the best in football.
“He’s got all of the good stuff that’s going around the league,” Carroll said. “The tree that he comes from is really the one I respect the most, in terms of innovation and creativity and really good fundamental aspects of their offense. He’s representing all those guys. It’s a big offense, they do a lot of stuff. You can’t just zero in on this or that. They love to run the football, they’re willing to stay with it when they can, the play action is good, The perimeter stuff off the running game is there. And they really trust the quarterback. They have a lot of downfield routes and concepts.”
In addition to Coen, three of McVay’s other offensive assistants are current NFL head coaches: Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur, Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor and Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell. McVay’s success as a young offensive coach led to other NFL teams pursuing young offensive coaches, especially those who had coached under McVay.
Interestingly, though, when Carroll hired his own offensive coordinator in Las Vegas, he didn’t pick from McVay’s coaching tree. Instead, Carroll chose Chip Kelly, a 61-year-old who had developed his own innovative offensive approach long before McVay had ever even worked as an assistant coach. Carroll and Kelly haven’t always appeared to see eye-to-eye this year, so perhaps Carroll is wishing he had chosen a coordinator from the tree he respscts the most.
The Jaguars announced a handful of roster moves on Friday afternoon, including the official move that put wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter on injured reserve.
Hunter suffered a non-contact knee injury in practice on Thursday and is undergoing tests to determine the severity. A report on Friday said one of those tests showed that Hunter’s ACL is intact and further word on his outlook is expected in the coming days.
The Jaguars also placed safety Eric Murray on injured reserve. He was ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Raiders with a neck injury earlier in the day.
Wide receiver Austin Trammell was signed off the practice squad to fill one of the open roster spots. He had two catches for 40 yards in his only appearance with the team last season.
Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (back) will play Sunday, coach Pete Carroll said on Friday.
He was injured in Week 7 against the Chiefs, and the Raiders had last week off, giving him time to heal. Crosby returned to practice on Thursday as a limited participant.
Crosby has totaled 28 tackles, four sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.
Defensive tackle Adam Butler (back) also will play. He also returned to practice on Thursday after missing Wednesday’s work.
The Raiders have ruled out quarterback Aidan O’Connell (right wrist) and safety Lonnie Johnson (fibula). Both players have had limited practices this week.
Jaguars rookie wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter is going to miss at least the next four games after hurting his knee in practice on Thursday and the non-contact nature of the injury led to concern that he might have torn his ACL.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that initial tests show that Hunter avoided that injury and that his ACL is intact. Hunter is still undergoing tests that will determine both the exact nature of his injury and a timetable for his return.
Head coach Liam Coen announced that Hunter will be placed on injured reserve during his Friday press conference. The second overall pick will miss Sunday’s game against the Raiders as well as matchups with the Texans, Chargers and Cardinals.
Hunter has 28 catches for 298 yards and a touchdown in his receiver role and he’s made 15 tackles while playing cornerback.
Jaguars receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter suffered a non-contact knee injury during Thursday’s practice and will be placed on injured reserve, head coach Liam Coen told reporters at his Friday press conference.
“He will miss at least four games,” Coen said. “We’re currently assessing the injury just to determine the best course of action moving forward for Travis and the team.”
Coen said he isn’t sure whether or not Hunter may be able to return later this season.
“We’re still assessing,” Coen said. “We haven’t gotten all of the information. This just kind of got going last night when we got some information. So, we’re still waiting on further information to be able to determine how long it will be.”
Hunter, the No. 2 overall pick of this year’s draft, has caught 28 passes for 298 yards with one touchdown while also recording 15 total tackles with three passes defensed. He’s been on the field for 67 percent of the offensive snaps, 35 percent of defensive snaps, and two percent of special teams snaps.
He’s coming off his best performance of the season, catching eight passes for 101 yards with his first career touchdown against the Rams before the club’s bye.
“Yeah, it’s definitely not ideal timing — not that any injury is ideal timing,” Coen said. “But got to believe the makeup, his general attitude toward life, how he handles dealing with specific situations — I have a lot of belief in Travis as a person, as a competitor to come back better than ever.
“You just feel bad for the guy, for the kid, for our team, for everything,” Coen added. “But he’s in good spirits right now. And a minor setback for a major comeback. That’s just the way it’s got to be.”
