The Jaguars drafted Travis Hunter to be a two-way player, but this year he has been primarily a cornerback. And on Sunday, he was just a cornerback.
Hunter played every play on defense in Sunday’s win over the Bengals and didn’t play at all on offense. Hunter also didn’t play on special teams, and Jaguars coach Liam Coen said after the game that Hunter was too important to the defense on a day when cornerbacks Montaric “Buster” Brown and Christian Braswell were both injured.
“We knew that with Buster and Braswell down, he was going to play every moment of the game,” Coen said of Hunter. “We had some things going for him on offense, but we just didn’t want to sideline him. If he gets hurt on offense, we’re in a really bad situation. So we didn’t want to put ourselves in danger there. I was very proud of the way Travis played defensively today.”
Hunter was one of the best players on the field on defense, with an interception that was negated by a penalty, multiple pass breakups and a few tough hits.
“He played hard today,” Coen said. “He had the pick that got called up, he had a ton of PBU, he had a huge tackle, he ended up knocking the guy out pretty good. I just thought Trav played today.”
The Jaguars aren’t saying it, but Hunter currently plays so little on offense that the team seems to view him more as a cornerback who can occasionally get on the field for a gadget play on offense than as a true two-way player. But on a day when Hunter only had one job, the Jaguars were happy with how he accomplished it.
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