Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen told reporters in South Florida that rookie receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter will not play against the Miami Dolphins on Saturday for the team’s final preseason game.
The same can be said about all of Jacksonville’s starters, Coen said, noting that the team has gotten two weeks of work during the first two preseason games.
Coen also noted that if the team had earlier joint practices, it could have impacted what he did with players during the preseason, including the third preseason game for a series.
“It’ll be a lot of young guys getting some quality work and there’s a lot of guys that are going to play, that are fighting for a roster spot or fighting for a roster spot potentially on somebody else’s team, and so, this is valuable tape,” Coen said via the team’s press conference live stream.
The Jaguars held a joint practice with Miami on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s final tune-up game ahead of the regular season. Hunter was spotted on the practice field, but was seen off to the side with veteran corner Tyson Campbell, according to reporters on location.
Hunter is nursing an upper-body injury that has prevented him from participating fully in practice. His return from injury has been characterized as day-to-day.
“It was more of like, do we want him now or potentially not in Carolina?” Coen mused when asked about Hunter not practicing against the Dolphins. “It was more just being smart about the next few weeks, because the ultimate goal is Carolina.”
Coen said if Hunter needed to play, he could have, underscoring the injury as being minor.
Hunter, drafted with the second-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, has been operating as a receiver and cornerback with Jacksonville. The plan is for Hunter to become the first full-time two-way player in modern NFL history, with projections as high as playing 80% on both sides of the ball.
Jacksonville has operated as if that will be the case throughout the offseason. In training camp, when Hunter was slated to practice with the offense, he’d work individually with defensive coaches during special teams periods and vice versa.
Recently, the Jaguars have deployed Hunter on both sides of the field, giving him an opposite-color penny to sport over his primary jersey during practice. At one point this summer, Hunter began a series on offense and finished on defense, showcasing the team’s willingness to continue with the experiment.
Travis Hunter has near-equal reps on both sides of the ball
Before his injury, Hunter was tracking to play almost just as many snaps on offense as he had on defense.
Here are the latest snap counts from team periods that have been tracked by the Florida Times-Union:
Offense: He has 188 snaps on offense in team periods, with 39 targets and 27 receptions.
Defense: Hunter has 176 snaps on defense in team periods, with 14 targets, allowing six catches. He has broken up five passes and has two tackles in padded practices.
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky @ Demetrius.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Travis Hunter, other Jacksonville Jaguars starters out vs. Dolphins in preseason finale
Reporting by Demetrius Harvey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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