Jacksonville Jaguars general manager James Gladstone put all the speculation to rest about rookie two-way player Travis Hunter.
Hunter will continue playing both ways for the team when he recovers from his lateral collateral ligament injury this offseason. The No. 2 overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft missed the final 10 weeks of the regular season and Jacksonville’s playoff game against the Buffalo Bills after having surgery on his right knee.
Hunter suffered a non-contact injury during practice on Oct. 30 and the team placed him on the injured reserve list the following day.
“We still expect him to play on both sides of the ball,” Gladstone said during the end of the year press conference with media. “Obviously you can take a peek at expiring contracts on our roster and which side of the ball has more.”
Hunter was trending in a direction to take more responsibility on both sides of the ball prior to being injured.
He had his best game as pro in Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams, recording eight catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. He finished his rookie season with 28 catches for 298 yards and the lone touchdown on offense.
He logged 15 total tackles and four pass deflections as a cornerback, though he played only 162 snaps on defense compared to 324 offensive snaps. Hunter could see the percentage of time he spends on defense flipped as the Jaguars’ cornerback situation is a bit unclear going into the offseason.
Greg Newsome II and Buster Brown are both set to become free agents this offseason. The rest of the cornerback room consists of Jourdan Lewis, who’s recovering from a season-ending foot injury, Jarrian Jones and Christian Braswell.
“The steps he was taking by the midpoint of the season really made us feel good about what the back half of the year was going to be like on both sides of the ball,” Gladstone said. “What that impact was going to look like being a feature point on offense and an impact player on defense.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Travis Hunter injury: Jaguars star to play offense, defense in 2026
Reporting by Juston Lewis, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
