Liam Coen and Deion Sanders are talking about practice. Not a game — practice.
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Coen was busy coaching his squad to a win on “Monday Night Football” against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 5, but the victory wasn’t the only thing that grabbed the headlines.
While two-way superstar Travis Hunter is still trying to find his footing on the NFL level, Eli Manning says there might be a steeper learning curve thanks to what he didn’t actually do at Colorado.
“I talked to Liam Coen, they said when he was at Colorado, he (Hunter) practiced zero with the offense,” Manning said. “He only practiced defense. They had a special system where they the coach would just signal the formation to him and then signal the route to him.
“So like he just improvised, just went out there and winged it as a receiver. So, he’s still learning right now how to be a receiver.”
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders responded to the claim this week, calling it a total falsehood.
“That was a lie,” Sanders said. “OK, Travis Hunter played offense and defense — we started out with the 1s, the offense going for the first, four, five reps, then he went over and played defense the next four, five reps, and he did it the whole practice.”
Sanders added that Troy Aikman, former Dallas Cowboys teammate and current ESPN “Monday Night Football” color analyst, reached out to him ahead of the game, as he was given the same “misinformation.”
The Colorado head coach set the record straight to Aikman, saying that he told him the “truth” on Hunter’s practice habits.
“I don’t know why people lie,” he added. “Why do they do that kind of stuff?”
Coen, who had media availability on Friday, has not addressed the situation.
Hunter, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, is looking to continue growing int he NFL. He has 16 receptions for 182 yards, with 13 tackles and two pass break-ups on the defensive side.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Deion Sanders sets record straight on Manningcast’s Travis Hunter report from Liam Coen
Reporting by Joe Rivera, USA TODAY / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
