Michael DiRoccoApr 4, 2026, 01:56 PM ET
Close Michael DiRocco is an NFL Nation reporter at ESPN and covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. He previously covered the University of Florida for over a decade for ESPN and the Florida Times-Union. DiRocco graduated from Jacksonville University and is a multiple APSE award winner.Multiple Authors
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker instantly got the message when head coach Liam Coen used an Aaron Donald comparison during their end-of-season meeting.
Coen wasn’t comparing Walker to Donald, one of the greatest defensive linemen in NFL history, as a player, but emulate the way Donald prepared, practiced, and played. He wants to see the same things from Walker.
That’s what Walker, who signed his four-year, $110 million contract extension on Saturday, wants, too.
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“It’s just like taking my game to another level,” Walker said. “Obviously, he’s seen Aaron Donald. He was on the team with Aaron Donald. So it just kind of helped put things in perspective for me to be able to just click it to a different type of mindset from how I was going throughout the year.
“And I feel like it really clicked [and] dawned on me that it’s just time to ramp things up, take it to the next level.”
Walker has 27.5 sacks, 200 tackles, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and 57 quarterback hits in 60 career games since the Jaguars drafted him first overall in 2022. Though he had a lot of success while playing inside at Georgia, he’s played mainly on the edge with the Jaguars and was coming into his own as a pass rusher with 10 sacks in 2023 and 10.5 in 2024. However, wrist and knee injuries limited him to 3.5 sacks in 2025.
He can be a dominant player, Coen told him, but for that to happen during games it has to happen in practice, which is why he brought up Donald, an eight-time All-Pro, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, and 10-time Pro Bowler as a defensive tackle with the Los Angeles Rams.
“We literally had to take him [Donald] out of practice in order for us to gain yards on offense,” said Coen, who was a Rams offensive assistant for four years, including the offensive coordinator in 2022. “And so if you want to get where you want to go and where we want you to go and where you can go, I need to be taking you out of practice so that we can operate on offense. I want that kind of destruction and mindset and mentality.
“Habits. Not talent. It’s just habits. Elite habits, elite practice, preparation, game preparation, those habits and the way that you practice on a day-to-day basis.”
Walker described the way he must operate going forward this way: “Pure dominance.”
He can do that now without wondering about his financial future. His extension includes $77 million guaranteed and $50 million fully guaranteed at signing.
“It’s just time to go play ball now,” he said. “I don’t have to think about none of that.”
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