Tight end Brenton Strange looks to thrive in 2026, and is energized by Jacksonville's competitive fire under second-year coach Liam Coen and the team's shared familiarity.
Brenton Strange is looking forward to a 2026 unhindered by injury and another chance to work under Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen.
The Jags' fourth-year tight end joined NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" podcast Monday to talk about his offseason so far and his excitement for the new season.
Strange, who took over as a full-time starter for the first time last season, posted career highs in receptions (46) , receiving yards (540) and touchdowns (three). He did so despite playing just 12 games, a career-low.
After being placed on injured reserve with a hip injury following Week 5, Strange finished out the back half of the season, helping Jacksonville to an 8-0 finish.
"Obviously, I had the injury, which kind of slowed me down a little bit, but I'm just excited to just keep putting my best foot forward every single day and working hard and becoming the best version of myself," Strange said.
A second-round pick, 61st overall, in 2023, Strange will play out the final year of his rookie contract this season, talked about his level of comfortability heading into the Jaguars' second year under head coach Liam Coen.
"You know what you're getting into this time. You know what to expect going into practice, going into games.," Strange said. "You know how Liam likes to run his system. So that's what I'm super excited for."
Strange also talked about the benefit of returning tight ends coach Richard Angulo and offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, who tested the head coaching market before re-signing with Jacksonville in the offseason.
"It's just the familiarity of, you know, being with everybody. I have my same tight ends coach," Strange said. "We got Grant back, so it's just going to be good to be back with everybody in the building. And I can't wait to get back to work."
With the Jaguars coming off of a 13-win season, their most since 1999 (14-2), Strange talked about the "competitive juice" that Coen brings to the team.
"Y'all see it week in and week out. He got that fire," Strange said. "He got that competitive juice to him. So, I love Liam, man. He makes it easy to, you know, go out there and want to work hard and play hard for him."
Coen's energy has been evident throughout the offseason as well, as the second-year head coach has frequently talked about "attacking" the offseason and building on the team's success last season.
For Strange, he is doing just that, as he talked about his love for the game and willingness to build on his career season.
"I work hard. This is all I do really, you know, I love the sport," Strange said. "It's given me everything in my life, but just having fun with it, man. It's just the beginning. I feel like we were really just getting our feet wet last year."
Jacksonville kicks off its first day of workouts on Monday, April 20.
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