Bigger plans appeared in the works for Travis Hunter following the Jaguars’ bye, but those are suddenly on hold. Liam Coen said (via ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco) the two-way player will be placed on IR.
A knee injury sustained during Thursday practice will lead Hunter off the active roster, representing a blow to both the Jags’ offensive and defensive units. In a rookie season that has not seen the No. 2 overall pick justify his draft slot, Hunter will now need an unknown rehab timetable before attempting a belated resurgence. The team is still assessing the injury, Coen adds (via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). Hunter went down with a noncontact injury while playing defense, per DiRocco. It is a right knee injury, the Florida Times-Union’s Ryan O’Halloran adds.
While the extent of the injury is not known, the team quickly announcing an IR move is certainly not good news regarding the potential for a late-season comeback. The Jags were indeed planning on increasing Hunter’s role on offense, according to NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe.
Through seven games, the Heisman winner caught 28 passes for 298 yards and one touchdown. The Jags had used him as a Brian Thomas Jr. complementary piece early, but the rookie has been unable to hit the ground running — albeit with a historically unique workload.
The Jags used Hunter on 67% of their offensive plays and 36% of their defensive snaps before the bye. While some teams viewed the Colorado standout as a better cornerback, the Jags were among those to see him more as an impact wide receiver. Team brass confirmed that upon trading up for him — in a deal that sent the Browns 2025 draft ammo and a 2026 first-round pick — but the rollout for the two-way phenom has been slow.
Hunter padded his numbers in garbage time of the Rams’ 35-7 win over the Jags in London; he finished south of 35 receiving yards in four of his first seven NFL games. Though, the 6-foot-2 rookie made an impressive deep grab in Jacksonville’s upset win over Kansas City in Week 5 and had been progressing in Coen’s offense. It will certainly be interesting to see how long of a return timetable — should a 2025 comeback be in play — will be in store here.
The Jags introduced Hunter to two-way practices at training camp, but he did not play much on defense in Week 1. The team began to expand his defensive workload beginning in Week 2. The Jags have primarily used Hunter as a boundary corner defensively, while roughly two-thirds of his snaps on offense have come as a slot receiver. Hunter will be unable to practice until being designated for return; the team will be unable to make that move until at least Week 13.
Thomas, Dyami Brown and Tim Patrick began the week practicing in a limited capacity; this trio will be expected to lead the way at receiver moving forward. The Jags still have receiving tight end Brenton Strange on IR. Hunter’s practice setback is also obviously a blow for Trevor Lawrence, who exits the Jags’ bye sitting 27th in QBR. Coen was brought in to revive the former No. 1 overall pick’s career, but the $55MM-per-year player has remained inconsistent this season. Lawrence will now need to make do without two key weapons on offense.
I’m sure he can still be a great player but I never got the hype around him to make him warrant being the number one overall pick in the draft, which we know he would have been if the Titans didn’t need a QB.
Yeah at the top of the draft, you want a high probability QB or a clear game changer. He wasn’t either. Exciting, yes. Top 3, no.
Yes, certainly looks like both the #1 and #2 picks were a bit forced…..
Bring back the tarps!
And here is the downside of having a two-way player. They just lost two key players with this injury.
More like two half-time players…
two half-time players = four quarter-time players = 8 players just standing around waiting for the bus.
Over working against NFL level bodies and conditions.