George Pellicer, like any football team’s equipment manager, is a jack of all trades for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
These guys can repair a helmet or set of shoulder pads in seconds, stitch up a uniform and get a football to within a half-ounce of the desired pressure to the liking of the quarterback or kicker.
On some days, such as Aug, 4 after the team’s sixth training camp practice at the Miller Electric Center, Pellicer stayed with quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who wanted to get in extra work throwing. Pellicer served as Lawrence’s center, tossing one ball after another to him as he tried to perfect an out pattern with wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.
Pellicer also has another piece of his skill set: quick-change artist.
For the last two seasons, Pellicer has been the guy joined at the hip during practices with Jacksonville Jaguars two-way star Travis Hunter, who is playing wide receiver and cornerback.
Fans and media watching training camp, and especially intrigued by how much offense and defense Hunter plays, have watched as Pellicer, the day’s play script on both sides of the ball in hand, throws a white mesh jersey over Hunter’s helmet and pads for the plays in which he is on defense, then takes it off when it’s time for Hunter to move to offense.
The habit is for Hunter to begin the day with a teal jersey, worn by the offense. Then put on the white jersey. Then take it off.
The process is repeated until practice is over. Based on the total number of snaps Hunter has on both sides of the ball through the first six days of camp, Pellicer and Hunter do the quick change about 10 times.
Plan to help Travis Hunter change jerseys was hatched early
Pellicer said it’s all in a day’s work, and fits within a general job description he has for himself and his staff.
“Our job is to make sure the coaches have what they need and make sure the players have what they need,” he said.
Pellicer, a St. Augustine native who has been the equipment manager for five years and with the Jaguars for 24 years, said the practice plan for Hunter was hatched almost immediately after draft day in 2025 when the team traded up to snag Hunter with the second overall pick.
“As soon as we drafted him, we started thinking how we’re going to do it,” Pellicer said.
One of the first things Pellicer did was contact the equipment manager at Colorado, where Hunter played college ball. Buffaloes’ coach Deion Sanders didn’t make it complicated: Hunter wore a blue jersey at all times, to distinguish himself from either of the team’s primary colors, black or gold.
However, the Jaguars’ coaches wanted Hunter to wear the color on the side of the ball he was playing at any given time.
Hence, the need for the system of changing jerseys.
Jaguars ‘learned on the fly’ how to swap jerseys during camp drills
First things first: Pellicer had to find a mesh jersey with a neck hole big enough to get over Hunter’s helmet and the rest over his shoulder pads, but not have too much material flapping in the breeze when he would run.
“It had to be big enough where it can go over easily over shoulder pads, but it’s got to be at least trim enough where it’s not baggy,” Pellicer said.
That’s where the seamstress in Pellicer came out.
“We put a little cord on the bottom, just kind of tightened up for him so it’s not too dangling,” he said.
Pellicer said that he didn’t practice taking the jersey off or putting it on with Hunter, nor has anyone bothered to time them ― somewhat surprising given the tight practice schedule where reps are precious commodities, not to be wasted.
But they both have gotten very good at doing it within seconds frequently on the move: Pellicer is often spotted trailing Hunter, pulling the jersey off or putting it on while both are walking to the sideline.
The play script has helped: Pellicer said the coaches have never called for Hunter to get back-to-back reps on both sides, giving them more than a few seconds to change.
And everyone is aware of that day’s script: the coaches, Hunter and Pellicer, who rarely delegates the job to someone else.
“We’ve learned it on the fly,” he said. “Unless I get called to do something else, it will be me a majority of the time.”
Pellicer isn’t sure how many of the white mesh jerseys the Jaguars have gone through for Hunter in the past two seasons but he said there have been multiple ones in use.
“We have enough,” he said.
Good, because a practice-worn Travis Hunter jersey might be valuable for a Hall of Fame exhibit one day.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: How Travis Hunter and Jaguars equipment manager tackle jersey swap
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
