Jaguars WR/CB Travis Hunter is impressing at coaching camp

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Under the lights at EverBank Stadium during a scrimmage last Friday night, Jacksonville Jaguars rookie receiver Travis Hunter jogged off the field, waited out a play, and then headed to the opposite sideline. He took off his teal No. 12 jersey and put on a white counterpart.

Five plays later, he jogged back onto the field and lined up at cornerback.

Those moments marked the first time Hunter played both sides of the ball during an NFL practice. He had four catches for 43 yards on 17 offensive snaps and played 21 snaps on defense. It will become a regular occurrence as the Jaguars continue preparations to make him the NFL’s first regular two-way player since the 1960s.

And so far, everything is going exactly as the Jaguars — and Hunter — have planned.

“They actually trust me,” Hunter said. “They put a lot on my plate, but I just have to go out there and continue to attack the work that they give me.”

There has been a lot of work. Other than the scrimmage, Hunter has practiced exclusively on one side of the ball or the other. During special teams periods, however, he works with coaches from the other side, and he has rotated between offensive and defensive meetings.

It’s a schedule that coach Liam Coen and the staff have meticulously planned.

“One period, he may be with us, the next period, he’s with them,” defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile said. “Some days, he may start on defense, then he’s working [on] offense. He’s done a really good job with that, and I think Liam’s done a great job coordinating that.”

Through two weeks of training camp, Hunter has handled his two-way role well. His teammates and coaches admire the mental and physical commitment that he has brought to his unique role. His next step? Figuring out how to do both in an NFL game. The first glimpse of that might come in Saturday’s first preseason game (7 p.m. ET) against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“It’s been demanding on him, but he’s responded in every way,” Campanile said.

HUNTER PRACTICED ON both sides of the ball every day at Colorado, but he said he likes the Jaguars’ approach of starting him on offense in the spring and then giving him defensive days in camp before easing him into a rotational role in practices. Learning the offense and defense is a much tougher task mentally than the physical part of playing both ways.

“You have two playbooks and you have to do different terms each and every day,” Hunter said.

Are there moments when he’s a little unsure or confused on the field? Of course, but “every rookie experiences that,” cornerback Jourdan Lewis said.

“He’s just so comfortable,” Lewis said. “He’s confident in what he does. He knows the spotlight’s on him. He just goes out there and handles business.”

Hunter has worked exclusively at outside corner, and at this point, there are no plans for him to move inside to nickel, a spot that Lewis will play when the Jaguars have five defensive backs on the field.

Receiver Brian Thomas Jr. said Hunter’s biggest area of growth since he arrived as the No. 2 pick has been in his knowledge of the offense.

“Being able to go out there and execute the plays and knowing the ins and outs,” Thomas said. “Just being in his playbook, learning the playbook, knowing what he has, not having to second-guess himself or think twice about what he has. That’s probably the biggest thing.”

Though Hunter played both ways in his three seasons in college, there was some concern about overloading him. But that hasn’t happened, Campanile said.

“You see him doing the extra work out here with [secondary coach Ron Milus] and [defensive backs coach Anthony Perkins], so, he’s really taking advantage of the meeting time and the on-field time with those guys,” Campanile said. “I call them the feet meets or the walk-throughs. He’s really doing a great job focusing.”

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HUNTER HOOKED UP with quarterback Trevor Lawrence for a touchdown in a recent red zone drill, leaping and reaching over Lewis to snag the ball in the end zone and still getting both feet in bounds. Lewis had good coverage, but Hunter made a big-time play on the ball.

That’s one of the things about Hunter that has stood out to cornerback Tyson Campbell.

“Just how quick he is and how shifty he is,” Campbell said. “He gets to his spot and Trevor is able to put it anywhere, and he’s athletic enough to reach out and go get it.

“His ball skills are definitely something that catches your eye.”

Said Coen after the scrimmage: “I mean, you guys saw it. Pretty cool in space, isn’t he?”

It’s not surprising that Hunter is good with the ball in his hands. He won the Heisman Trophy last season after catching 15 touchdown passes and intercepting four passes. However, despite Hunter averaging 113.9 snaps per game for the Buffaloes in 2024, his level of conditioning still shocks his teammates and coaches.

“That’s unbelievably rare,” offensive coordinator Grant Udinski said. “I don’t know that I’ve seen anything like it, with that level of conditioning before. Obviously, he’s expected to do something that I have not seen another player do, that none of us have seen before. It is once again a testament to his work, his training in the heat in the summer, to be able to come out here and do this.

“It is hot. No joke. There are guys out here struggling to just do one, and he’s doing multiple things, juggling different things mentally, physically. It’s a testament to his work. The conditioning is definitely apparent.”

Lewis described Hunter’s level of conditioning as “different.”

“A lot of times guys get tired on one side of the ball and he’s concentrating his energy on both sides of the ball,” Lewis said. “It’s going to be tough, especially being his first time in the NFL, but I think he has it.

“He has to do it.”

Which is what Hunter has been telling everyone since his college career ended.

“It’s like, I’m already doing all this extra work,” Hunter said. “You’re going to keep telling me I can’t do the same thing that I’ve been doing and showing you? … I’m going to just be quiet and go to work.”

SATURDAY’S PRESEASON OPENER against the Steelers at EverBank Stadium is arguably the most anticipated preseason game since the team’s inaugural preseason opener against Carolina in 1995 — because of Hunter.

Coen has not yet announced if Hunter will play on both sides of the ball and for how long, but after doing so in what Coen called a “mock game” last week, it’s logical that Hunter will.

The Jaguars need to go through the mechanics of Hunter missing time on the sideline. For example, the offense will meet with coaches and talk through adjustments while the defense is on the field, but if Hunter is on the field on defense, will he have enough time to absorb those changes before he goes back on the field with the offense?

It might fall to his position coach — Edgar Bennett — to give him a crash course when Hunter gets back on the sideline. And the same when it’s flipped and he misses defensive adjustments, with Milus and Perkins.

The good thing: At least he won’t have to change his jersey, which will buy him a couple of minutes.

There’s also the matter of how much to play Hunter in the preseason. Game reps are valuable for rookies, but he’ll likely get more because he’ll be playing both ways.

But, as Coen has repeatedly said, it’s important to be fluid with how they treat Hunter, and they will continue to do that.