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Travis Hunter's Final Stats From His First NFL Preseason Game
© Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

The Heisman Trophy winner played both ways.

Fans were able to get their first look at Travis Hunter in an NFL uniform on Saturday as he attempts to do something that's never really been seen in modern football — play on both sides of the ball full-time.

The former Heisman Trophy winner played 10 snaps on offense and another eight on D in Jacksonville's 31-25 loss to the Steelers, where he caught two passes for nine yards and had another gain wiped out by a penalty before missing a tackle on fellow rookie Kaleb Johnson early in the game.

While some fans felt a bit underwhelmed by Hunter's performance, his coach Liam Coen liked a lot of what he saw from the No. 2 pick in his limited preseason action — even if he still has to go back and watch the tape before giving his full analysis.

"He made a couple good catches on some option routes and missed the one tackle defensively that I noticed," Coen said after the game. "I'll have to watch the tape on how he operated defensively a little bit more, but I thought offensively, he made the right decisions on those option routes."

"Made a good catch, almost broke out of that one where Trevor [Lawrence] put it behind him on that third down we talked about, but I'll have to go watch the tape a little bit more to know more."

Hunter admitted that he was feeling the nerves a bit before kickoff but is glad that he got his first NFL experience out of the way and that he knows what he has to clean up for the next game.

Aug 9, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) runs after a catch against the Pittsburgh Steelers during a preseason game at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Travis Register-Imagn Images© Travis Register-Imagn Images

"I was a little nervous at first," Hunter said. "But after the first play, I was good. ... We can flush it [the missed tackle] right away and just get back to business. I know what I've got to do next time."

Most of Hunter's on-field work during training camp has come on the offensive side, while the majority of his defensive reps have been mental outside of 11-on-11 work.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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