One thing that stood out in the way the Jacksonville Jaguars let a lead slip away at Mile High on Sunday was the constant cornerback rotation.
Whether the Jaguars are actually using Travis Hunter to his fullest potential has been a hot-button topic ever since training camp, but cycling guys on and off the field by rote instead of riding the hot hand completely threw a wrench into their defensive rhythm when Denver started mounting a comeback.
Bo Nix finally managed to claw his way back up in the second half, and the Broncos walked home with the rematch they wanted as revenge for the 2025 showdown.
Travis Hunter Backs Liam Coen’s Decision
As for Hunter, he only took about 60% of the Jaguars’ total plays on defense, just 37 snaps.
Looking at the actual split in cornerback rotation, Montaric Brown played 76.9%, Jarrian Jones 67.26%, Hunter 58.41%, and Jourdan Lewis took the least with 53.10%, according to Jaguars senior writer John Oehser.
Both Brown (49 snaps) and Jones (39 snaps) played more than Hunter in Week 2.
When asked whether the constant switching affected his performance, Hunter played it totally safe and didn’t give them a shred of bulletin-board material.
“That’s the plan. The coaches tell me where I go. I just gotta follow their plan, follow their lead,” Hunter said post-game, according to Action Sports Jax.
“My job is to go out there and play, no matter when they put me out there. So that’s what I do.”
The Jaguars traded to grab Hunter at No. 2 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. Just looking at the split of snaps at cornerbacks looks like a head-scratching misuse of an elite weapon. Coen might have a long-term vision here, but right now, the Jaguars blew up one winnable game early in the season.
Forcing their strict drive-by-drive rotation opens them up to vulnerabilities that their upcoming opponents can feast on.
Liam Coen Confident in His Strategy
Still, it is something Coen seemed pretty sure about.
“It’s by drives with those guys rotating in,” Coen said when asked to explain the cornerback rotation post-game. “With Buster, Travis and Jarrion, and then obviously Jay Lew specifically and some of the nickel stuff.”
“We did it for the most part last season as well before Travis got hurt. It’s something we have to continue to do. We have corners we have confidence in. Those guys can all make plays for us. They can all communicate for us. They’ve been in the system now. We have to play it better, but we also have to get to the quarterback to help those guys out as well in the back end. It’s a rotation based on pregame. We have it all laid out. The players know it. They all know the rotation. It has been clearly laid out to them what the expectations and standards are.”
The Jaguars have tough passing offenses coming up on the schedule: New England Patriots in Week 3, followed by Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4. They can’t afford their piece with some of the best potential to stay glued to the sideline if Coen’s strategy doesn’t work out.
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