Lynn Jones and Liam Coen Credit: News4Jax/ Jacksonville Jaguars
By Sam Neumann on

Lynn Jones spent Monday defending herself after a 30-second postgame press conference exchange turned into a full-blown debate about journalism, race, and who gets to decide what belongs in an NFL press room.

Jones, associate editor of the Jacksonville Free Press, attended Liam Coen’s postgame press conference following the Jaguars’ 27-24 Wild Card loss to Buffalo on Sunday. Instead of asking a question, she congratulated Coen on his rookie season as a head coach and offered words of encouragement.

“How you doing today, Lynn Jones, Jacksonville Free Press News,” Jones began. “I just want to tell you, congratulations on your success, young man. You hold your head up, alright? You guys have had a most magnificent season. You did a great job out there today. You just hold your head up, okay? Ladies and gentlemen, Duval, you the one. Keep it going, we got another season, okay? Take care, and much continued success to you and the entire team.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared the above clip on X, calling it “an awesome postgame exchange between a reporter and Jaguars HC Liam Coen.”

Not everyone agreed.

“Nothing ‘awesome’ about fans/fake media doing stuff like that,” The AP’s Mark Long wrote on X. “It should be embarrassing for the people who credentialed her and her organization, and it’s a waste of time for those of us actually working.”

That characterization prompted Jones to defend both herself and the broader Black press in an interview on Monday.

“I don’t take no offense to it,” Jones said of the criticism. “Listen, I’ve been in this business more than 25 years. I’ve interviewed from Barack Obama to Terry Bradshaw to what’s my guy’s name? Tiger Woods. So, [Mark Long] can say what he wants about ‘fake news.’ I am a member of the Black Press, NNPA (The National Newspaper Association) that’s been around more than 100 years. I’m the associate editor of the Jacksonville Free Press, one of the more than 230 African American Newspapers still printing in this country today.

“You can call me ‘fake’ all you want to, honey,” Jones continued. “I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

The Jacksonville Free Press is as legitimate as any outlet covering the Jaguars. Jones has credentials and 25 years of experience. The debate isn’t about whether she belonged in that room. The debate concerns what she chose to do once she got there.

Traditional journalists saw Jones’ remarks as wasted time that displaced someone who could’ve asked Coen actual questions about the game, his future, or what went wrong in the second half. Pat McAfee defended Jones by calling her critics “curmudgeon bums” who hate sports, turning the moment into another front in his ongoing war against traditional journalism.

As for Jones, she brought a little kindness into a space that rarely allows it. In a media environment that treats every postgame press conference like a deposition, maybe offering some humanity isn’t the worst thing in the world. Whether that belongs in a press conference is still up for debate, but at least someone walked out of that room feeling better about their day.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann