Liam Coen isn’t walking into Week 1 with a rigid plan for Travis Hunter, and that may be the point.
As the Jaguars prepare to face the Browns in Sunday’s season opener, Coen made it clear Friday that Hunter’s role on offense will stay flexible rather than boxed into a set script. The Jaguars want to put the No. 2 overall pick in spots where he can make things happen, but they also want to let him play without forcing the issue.
“Yeah, I would think so,” Coen said in his Friday press conference. “I think that you’re going to continue to try to get him in positions that he can do things that he’s good at.
That’s what we’re trying to do. Those are different ways of getting him the football while also letting him just go play, too.
“It [isn’t] always going to go scheme to him when he’s in the game, right? He’s a damn good blocker.
He can run routes in terms of, maybe the ball’s not schemed up to go to him and still get open and still have a chance to play. I’m not, obviously, having a count in my head with how many plays and how we’re exactly going to do with him.
But, he definitely will play both.”
Hunter’s first NFL season never really got rolling. A knee injury in practice midway through the year shut him down for the rest of the campaign, and even before that, his production hadn’t yet matched the buzz that followed him into the league. In seven games, he caught 28 passes for 298 yards and one touchdown, while also posting 15 total tackles, three passes defensed and one fumble recovery on defense.
Coen said he does not feel pressure to force Hunter onto the field on offense.
“No. Not at all,” Coen said.
“I think you do, but we don’t. I don’t.
“I have a lot of confidence in Travis to go out and compete for us. He hasn’t played a lot of football since he got hurt. And it’s really - at the end of the day, this is about winning football games.”
Kickoff for Jaguars-Browns is set for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
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