Jaguars vow to come back stronger after NFL playoff exit - ESPN

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Josh Hines-Allen said the Jaguars' 27-24 loss Sunday to the Bills in an AFC wild-card playoff game will bother him for a while, but he also believes some good will come out of the hurt.

And motivation.

«This is a growing step for us, a growing moment,» Hines-Allen said. «And obviously this team's not going to be the same next year. And we felt like in the moment this was our opportunity to go take advantage of it, and we didn't.

»But we've got a lot of guys that's hungry. And we're going to attack this offseason, grow from this offseason and come back ready to win the whole thing next year."

Though Super Bowl talk one season after finishing 4-13 is certainly amping up expectations, the Jaguars did make significant strides in 2025 under first-year coach Liam Coen. They went 13-4, winning their last eight regular-season games to capture the AFC South. They scored a franchise-record 474 points, led the NFL in rush defense, and quarterback Trevor Lawrence put together the best season of his five-year career.

The Jaguars do have several key impending free agents — running back Travis Etienne Jr. and linebacker Devin Lloyd top the list — and coordinators Grant Udinsky and Anthony Campanile might receive head coaching interviews for one of the NFL's eight current vacancies. But the core of the team will be back, as will cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter, who sat out the second half of his rookie season because of a knee injury.

Hines-Allen said that group has set a high standard.

«This is one of the first times where I felt surrounded by guys that wanted to be great, guys that sacrificed their body, guys that wanted greatness from their teammates and told them about it, sacrificed themselves about it,» he