Jaguars’ Travis Hunter Breaks Tee Higgins’ Ankles

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Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Travis Hunter earns a Shohei Ohtani label.

The interception didn’t count for Travis Hunter.

But the highlight will live on for a long time, because it’s not often that one NFL player breaks another’s ankles in the way the Jacksonville Jaguars’ two-way player did to Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins on Sunday.

Maybe in a past era no one would’ve seen this. Once the interception didn’t count, what followed would be moot.

But this is the social media age, an era of highlight clips everywhere.

Hunter’s fantastic move with the ball in his hands will live on.

Travis Hunter’s Highlight

Bengals QB Joe Burrow dropped back on third down late in the first quarter of Week 4 and decided to give Higgins a chance.

Higgins was going deep down the right sideline, so Burrow let it fly.

Burrow didn’t connect with Higgins, though. He found Hunter instead.

The pass was a little overthrown, and Hunter had his eyes looking to the right place, so he reeled it in easily.

Then he saw Higgins trying to tackle him, and, well, that wasn’t going to work.

Check out this move:

Travis Hunter snatched Tee Higgins’ ankles 😭 https://t.co/AFCDe8csjZ

— Underdog (@Underdog) October 4, 2026

If only this had counted. It was quite the return for Hunter, and in a key spot early in the game for the Jags.

Why Didn’t Travis Hunter’s INT Count?

The Travis Hunter interception was called back because of a roughing the passer penalty.

Arik Armstead hit Burrow late after his throw, and so the flag was thrown immediately.

Roughing the passer is a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down. It negates anything positive done by the defense.

It’s unlikely that the Armstead penalty set up the interception, because an overthrow by Burrow wouldn’t be caused by a hard hit after he let the ball go.

So instead, it ends up being quite a bummer for the Jags and Hunter.

Someone might even have a great slow-motion clip of that move made by Hunter, but it’s only so relevant if it doesn’t even go into the stat sheet as an interception or any INT return yardage.

For those hoping to see what Hunter can do with the ball in his hands in the NFL, there hasn’t been a lot of chance to see that on offense yet.

This, though, is as good an example as any. Maybe it’ll make head coach Liam Coen want to use Hunter a little bit more in his offense, too.