How the Jaguars Are Managing Travis Hunter’s Demanding Two-Way Role

Travis Hunter Jr. could be NFL's all-time snap leader

With all the highly controversial developments that took place in the Jacksonville Jaguars' defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals, Travis Hunter Jr.'s defensive performance went underdiscussed. Aside from the defensive pass interference, which some say shouldn't have been called, he had a very encouraging performance in his first prominent outing at cornerback for his team.

In Week 2, he tallied two combined tackles and a pass breakup, earning him a 72.2 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. For comparison, Jourdan Lewis had a 72.4 against the Bengals, which is considered solid starter play.

Versus Cincinnati, Hunter Jr. played 85 total snaps, 42 on offense and 43 on defense. He was ushered into a more prominent role after Jarrian Jones suffered a back injury in the first quarter, but Head Coach Liam Coen has repeatedly asserted that he means for his second-overall pick to be a full-time two-way player.

The NFL currently has a three-way tie for average snaps leader between various Arizona Cardinals defenders: Budda Baker, Mack Wilson Sr., and Jalen Thompson. Clearly, Hunter Jr.'s planned usage for the Jaguars would have him easily topping this leaderboard by season's end. When asked if the team is worried or preparing for the toll that could take on his body, Liam Coen had this to say:

"I mean, I think if anything, we probably have a little bit more encouragement and excitement about where things went this last week in terms of being able to handle that workload. We've got to manage it, though, like it's something we are constantly evaluating. We were just meeting a minute ago with sports science, with [Director of Performance Science] Chris Bach about that, and with [Assistant to the Head Coach] Jay Kaiser about his schedule and about what it looks like, what the mileage [is], what we're hoping to get out of today, tomorrow, the whole vision. So, is it a concern? No. It's just something that we definitely need to make sure we're constantly evaluating and being able to tweak if necessary."