JACKSONVILLE – Real games are here at last.

Real preseason games are here, anyway – and for the Jaguars, the 2025 preseason that opens with a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at EverBank Stadium Saturday features multiple very real storylines.

This is the start of a new era, the Head Coach Liam Coen era, and Saturday marks the era’s first game against another opponent.

“It’s big,” Coen said. “You don’t know what you have ever [until games begin]. You really don’t. You have a feel. You know what you’re doing against each other. [But] it is different, to go through the pregame routine, to get into your routine of getting ready to go play a game, but also going and competing against somebody else.”

👀 KEEP AN EYE ON THESE STORYLINES:

PLAYING TIME

• Coen plans to play all healthy players Sunday – including starters. “How long that is, we’ll kind of determine [based] on how things are going,” he said. “A lot of the guys want to play. You’ve got two new systems on both sides of the ball. Everything leans to it probably being the best thing for our team right now.” Coen said he decided that this week after speaking with veterans such as center Robert Hainsey and quarterback Trevor Lawrence. “Those guys have a pulse so much more for what the locker room is than I do on a daily basis,” Coen said. “That’s just the reality. So, it was good to hear from those guys.”

TREVOR TIME

• This is a meaningful preseason for Lawrence entering his fifth NFL season, his first in Coen’s system. Lawrence spent the offseason not only learning that scheme, but working to learn and improve the footwork and mechanics necessarily to excel in it. He and coaches have spoken positively of his progress, and Lawrence has looked increasingly confident and efficient in practice. This will be his first work in the system against another opponent. “I think it does help,” Lawrence said of playing in the preseason. “All offseason and all training camp, you can’t get hit. Sometimes there’s a different time clock in the pocket. You try to always play it real in practice, but sometimes you hang on to the ball and take a little bit more chances in the pocket because there are no consequences. When you’re live, it’s a little different. So, it’s nice to feel the time clock sped up, to feel the communication with the whole offense, with the offensive line, protection. Just live full-speed reps, I think it’s valuable.”