The Jacksonville Jaguars played the former No. 2 overall pick more on the offensive side of the ball in Week 6 than they had in his second NFL season. Head coach Liam Coen noted that while he performed great with his increase in snaps, it is not going to change their plan to ease him in on the offensive side of the football.
“Just keep chomping away at it,” said Coen about how they plan to utilize Hunter more on the offensive side of the ball. “We’re not going to over-rotate to a good game, right? We want to continue to build. There’s a lot of games left in the season, right? And so, we want to make sure that we’re continuing to build on the right trajectory that gives us the best chance to win on Sundays.”
Coen added that while there could be a time and place for Hunter to get closer to being full-time on both sides of the football, they are not going to force it. It will end up being determined on a game-by-game basis.
“We’ve won a lot of games with him maybe not playing 100 snaps,” said Coen. “And last week, you saw his impact and effect on games, where he is playing more. And so, it’s about the team; it’s about the group. He’s no different, and he’s going to continue to help us win on Sundays.”
Hunter has been getting near full-time work on the defensive side of the ball in the past three weeks. So, any snaps he gets on offense add to a full defensive workload. Coen is understanding of that, but realizes that Hunter can handle it and that his impact on offense is valuable.
Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Gives Travis Hunter Update
As a rookie, Hunter played more offensive snaps than defensive snaps. He finished the year with 324 snaps on the offensive side and 162 snaps on defense. However, they were not getting the most out of Hunter despite him playing more.
He played 80 snaps or more four times in the first seven weeks of his career, and then suffered a season-ending injury at practice. The plan has been much different for the Jaguars and Hunter this year. It starts with him leaning into defense and being a small piece of the offense.
Jaguars Have New Plan for Hunter
This year, he has a career-high in snaps of 76. That was all on defense because the defense was on the field for so long. His season-high in offensive snaps is nine, after his season-low in snaps on offense was 37 the year prior.
Even last week, when they ramped up the offensive snaps, he played 71 total snaps. So, he has not gone over 80 yet. Coen noted that it is not out of the picture for him to play that much. However, after his first year did not go as well and he suffered his injury, the team is taking a safer route.
In response, his yards per route run are up from 1.32 to 3.8, and he has two crucial interceptions on defense.
Jaguars HC Makes Feelings Clear on Travis Hunter Role