INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Improvement is the expectation, and soon.

James Gladstone made that clear early this week at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, with the Jaguars' new general manager reiterating what Head Coach Liam Coen has made equally clear in his first days and weeks in his new position.

This isn't a four-victory roster, and it shouldn't be a four-victory team.

"The talent that exists on this team is better than that record," Gladstone said.

Gladstone, hired as general manager Friday and introduced Monday, spoke to the media along with Coen on Tuesday. Gladstone, while speaking of the roster being better than the record, also said he "looks forward to bringing that to life."

"We're going to elevate the floor of the roster immediately," he said. "We look forward to injecting this ecosystem with some intangible elements that Liam and I both covet.

"That's rooted in things like mental and physical toughness, just elevating the floor of the roster and at the same time leaning into the guys that we have and knowing that we can put them in some good spots to really showcase their capacity and their attributes."

The Jaguars began meeting this week regarding with free agency, with that period scheduled to open on the March 12 start of the 2025 NFL League Year. The 2025 NFL Draft will be held April 24-26.

"There are pieces in place, and there are some obvious places where we can improve and get better," Coen said. "Ultimately, whether it's through the free agency or in the draft, we know we have to fill some of those voids."

Gladstone, who spent his first nine NFL seasons with the Los Angeles Rams – the last three as their Director of Scouting Strategy – has emphasized the draft in early conversations about roster-building. He also said he likes the Jaguars' salary-cap situation as mid-March approaches.

"We have some flexibility here," Gladstone said. "We'll remain disciplined throughout pro free agency and address some specific needs, but I think you guys can all expect that with the amount of draft capital that we have not only in this draft, but the next, that that's where we're going to be building."

Gladstone emphasized line play when speaking of offseason, also speaking of offensive skill players.

"Where it stands right now, I think we'll prioritize positions that really are across the front both offensively and defensively and those that put points on the board," he said. "That's where my mind goes when you ask a question like that. Beyond it, we'll continue to round out."

Gladstone specifically emphasized the interior offensive line and the need to make quarterback Trevor Lawrence feel more confident with pass protection.

"When a quarterback has the luxury of stepping into a throw and not feeling that internal pressure, you're going to feel a lot of success come off that," Coen said. "I really look forward to working with our staff to better understand their insights on what our current interior offensive line looks like, and the options we have available throughout free agency in the draft."

Added Gladstone, "I do think that by addressing the interior, that setting the dish for a quarterback, is something that can be really helpful to their success."

Gladstone, too, said he expected the Jaguars defensively to be "an urgent and explosive bunch" moving forward.

"It will certainly be a shift from what our fans probably saw last year," he said.

Gladstone in addition to personnel changes said the team should benefit from a change in approach.

"There's schematic adjustments that I think will surface some players in a different light and what we saw most recently won't look the same," he said, calling Coen "An elite communicator."

"That bridges a lot of gaps," Gladstone said. "When it comes to his offensive philosophy, the marriage between the run and the pass, the multiplicity of the screen game, the variety of the run game, he gives this team a notable edge.

"I think that's something everybody's going to appreciate."

NOTABLE

• Coen and Gladstone on Tuesday discussed the roster status of wide receiver Christian Kirk, with Coen saying: "We haven't even gotten to that conversation." Kirk, who signed with the Jaguars as an unrestricted free agent in the 2022 offseason, has a $24.2 million salary cap number in 2025 – and the Jaguars can save $10.6 million on the cap by releasing him. "We're just starting the conversations about our own current roster across both scouting and coaching staff, as well as working in pro-free agent dialogues," Gladstone said. "At this point in time, you can say we're happy to have Christian." Gladstone called Kirk's relationship on and off the field with quarterback Trevor Lawrence "key and critical" and added: "Quarterbacks the one that we're going to center around, and so his comfortability is going to be something that we weigh heavily." Said Coen, "I've got a ton of respect for Christian. So many coaches that I know that have come across him, worked with him, have a ton of respect for him. We're working through that, we're having some of those conversations, but have a ton of respect for him right now."