Liam Coen isn’t budging from the exact same stance he staked out on the draft night they picked Travis Hunter.
The Jaguars head coach is keeping his foot firmly on the gas for the two-way vision they have for Hunter, despite training camp reports flat-out challenging it.
“I’d say not so fast,” Coen said on the Rich Eisen Show, when asked whether Hunter’s two-way days are over.
“Let’s pump the brakes and just give the guy a chance to get back from obviously a pretty serious injury in which he’s worked his tail off to get himself into the position where he can continue to do those things.”
Travis Hunter Really Playing Both Ways in 2026?
That right knee surgery didn’t just rob Hunter of his rookie year; it actually hurt him in more ways than one. Sidelined after just seven games, he never got the chance to find that two-way rhythm on the fly.
All the pressure to strike the perfect balance between offensive and defensive reps trickles down to a season where he also shoulders the full-time CB1 responsibilities.
There was a heavy narrative hanging over Hunter after the surgery, claiming a full two-way workload was simply too much for his frame to handle.
But Jacksonville is pushing back against that outside noise, letting the practice tape do the talking as he steps into a massive CB1 role.
That said, Hunter has “almost exclusively” taken reps at only CB for the last two weeks, according to Jags’ insider John Shipley.
Coen refused to address the distribution of reps, but he continued selling that two-way dream.
“What the exact number of reps looks like, I can’t say right now, but I do know that he’s a playmaker,” Coen said. “He’s somebody that we want to get the ball in his hands too.”
ESPN’s Michael DiRocco confirmed that Hunter’s exclusive defensive reps started during preseason Week 2.
“Hunter played exclusively at cornerback Monday, getting on the field for 20 of the 24 snaps. Coach Liam Coen said the move was done to allow Hunter to focus more on playing without missing any mental reps when switching to offense,” DiRocco confirmed.
Hunter to Play Exclusively at CB?
Then, Coen had a pretty straight explanation on why they kept the two-way star limited to just one side of the ball.
“When he’s not in [on defense], and he’s coming [onto] offense every time, we’re losing out on even more coaching in those moments,” Coen said.
“And so wanted to just be very intentional today about getting him some of those visual reps so [defensive pass game coordinator Matt Araujo] can coach him even when he’s not in [on defense]. He’s not running over [to switch to offense]. So we just wanted to get him a little bit more of that.”
The Athletic’s Jeff Howe floated that general consensus behind drafting Hunter was that he would mainly be the full-time cornerback and a part-time wideout.
“Before being drafted, teams generally believed Hunter was better suited to be a full-time corner and part-time wideout in the NFL, though the Jags saw it the other way. They wanted him to gain as much experience as possible in Coen’s offense while mixing in at corner,” he wrote.
Whether that holds true or Hunter can actually pull off playing both ways remains a thing to be seen.
Jaguars Push Two-Way Travis Hunter Hype Past Training Camp Reality