Liam Coen's early impressions of Jacksonville Jaguars' cornerbacks in new defense

The Jacksonville Jaguars' cornerbacks are acclimating well to the new defensive scheme under coordinator Anthony Campanile.

In Campanile's quick to adjust and malleable defensive system, man coverage is still going to be utilized at times--depending on the in-game situation and what the matchup dictates--but we are going to see a lot more zone from the Jaguars' cornerbacks this season, where they are able to have vision on the quarterback, which hopefully leads to making more plays on the ball.

"Man, they've got their hands on a lot of balls so far," Liam Coen said after Monday's practice. "Just having some more vision on the quarterback in some of the zone coverages, but shoot, when we've been able to play man, it's something that they've been doing for quite some time last year. They've done a nice job in man."

The addition of Jourdan Lewis, who has primarily lined up in the nickel, adds stability to the cornerback position and "elite" communication skills, as Campanile described, which is a must when it comes to playing cornerback at a high level.

Coen has taken notice of Tyson Campbell's movement abilities and mentioned that this system is "where he's going to excel." Campanile is "really fired up" about Jarrian Jones, while Montaric Brown continues to get praise from coaches as well.

And, of course, there is also Travis Hunter, who is getting more reps on defense, which included making a highlight reel play recently.

"That whole group has done a great job," added Coen. "That whole crew of guys, it's been competitive, it's been a learning curve, obviously. When you're used to playing so much man, going back and playing a little bit of zone, as it sounds, could be a little bit challenging, based on where your eyes are, the discipline, things like that, I think they've done a nice job so far."

Along with seeing more zone coverages from the Jaguars, maximizing the versatility that this unit has will be part of the equation as well for Campanile. Moving players around and putting them in different positions provides Campanile with added flexibility to build out opponent-specific game plans, along with being able to disguise coverages to keep offenses guessing.

For opposing offenses going up against a versatile defense, the more looks that a defense puts on tape, the more there is to prepare for. Not to mention that in-game, there can be unscouted looks that pop up, and what the quarterback sees pre-snap may not be the same as when he hits the top of his drop.

"You love that," said Campanile about having versatility in the secondary. "You love to have guys that can play multiple positions. I think Jarrian is a guy that can play a bunch of different positions and Jourdan (Lewis) obviously has been able to do that in his career and I know he will continue to do that with us and that makes that exciting because those guys can do a lot of jobs."

This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars' OTAs: Liam Coen on Jacksonville cornerbacks in new defense