The Jaguars are leaning harder into Travis Hunter’s defensive work lately, and Monday made that clear.
According to SI.com’s John Shipley, Hunter took more snaps at cornerback than he did at receiver during camp, and he did not get any 11-on-11 offensive reps in Monday’s session. Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said the team is being deliberate about how it splits Hunter’s time, with a focus on giving him mental reps on defense so the back end can operate with speed and less hesitation.
“Trying to get him more just when he’s on defense, and then getting some of the mental reps on defense. When he’s not in and he’s coming to offense every time, we’re losing out on even more coaching in those moments.
And so, we wanted to just be very intentional today about getting him some of those visual reps so Mat can coach him even when he’s not in, he’s not running over. So, we just wanted to get him a little bit more of that,” Coen said, via Shipley.
Even with Week 1 looking like it could tilt more heavily toward corner, Coen was careful not to downplay Hunter’s value on offense. He called Hunter “our 3A, 3B receiver right now,” and said the team is trying to give him exposure to every chance available in camp.
“But right now, I mean, we need a lot of the communication, a lot of the repetition needs to continue obviously on both sides of the ball, but specifically on the defense where, like, all right, offensively, it’s a lot of play called, go execute the play. And shoot, there’s a lot of detail and fundamental and techniques that go into that.
But post-snap, pre-snap, post-snap on defense, there’s just so much more that can go into it, especially being in unison and being in connection. And so, we’re just trying to be intentional over the next couple weeks just about making sure that we’re ready to go for Cleveland and feel good about that.”
Hunter, 23, entered college as the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2021 class and initially committed to Florida State before flipping to Jackson State to play for Deion Sanders. That move made him the first five-star to sign with an HBCU.
After one season at Jackson State, Hunter followed Sanders to Colorado in 2023 and starred as a two-way player. He won the Heisman Trophy in 2024.
Jacksonville took him with the No. 2 overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, then signed him to a four-year, $46.65 million fully guaranteed contract that included a $30.57 million signing bonus paid entirely upfront.
In 2025, Hunter played in seven games for the Jaguars, catching 28 passes for 298 yards and one touchdown. On defense, he added 15 tackles, a fumble recovery, and three pass defenses.
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