How Travis Hunter's Schedule, Workload Changed with Coen, Jaguars from Colorado Plan

The Jacksonville Jaguars spoke with people at Colorado as they mapped out what a training regimen for Travis Hunter would look like before they traded up to select him second overall in the 2025 NFL draft.

According to ESPN's Michael DiRocco, the Jaguars learned Hunter practiced on offense and defense from Wednesday through Friday during the season. His designated rest day were Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Jacksonville eased Hunter into an NFL setting by having him work exclusively on offense or defense during mandatory minicamp sessions. As the offseason unfolded, the Jaguars got more confident in expanding his workload.

Head coach Liam Coen told DiRocco it was a learning process for the staff.

"We saw there was a span where maybe he practiced on offense. Let's call it a Thursday because we didn't do anything on the Fridays," the coach said. "And then he had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then Monday, he was on defense. That's four days without doing anything on offense. Well, we learned that it was too long. That's too long to kind of go without doing anything on maybe the other side of the ball, so we learned something there."

In terms of Hunter's usage during games, the preseason offered limited insight because he only suited up in Jacksonville's 31-25 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 9. On that occasion, he had 11 snaps at wide receiver and eight at defensive back.

"The Jaguars are mum on how many snaps they expect Hunter to play each week, and how they would break up, but they hinted that also will depend on matchups," DiRocco said. "In Week 2, for example, the Jaguars play in Cincinnati. That might be a game in which they need Hunter more on defense than offense."

The Jaguars insider added it's unrealistic to expect Hunter to match the 113.9 plays he averaged per contest as a junior in 2024. That's basically how much Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (62 snaps) and Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II (61.1 snaps) each played.

Jacksonville will presumably want to avoid overburdening its star rookie too much. His snap count in Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers will likely look much different in comparison to later in the year. And as DiRocco pointed out, certain opponents could dictate Hunter's role.

The Jags' commitment to making him a two-way player is at least encouraging for the wider experiment.