Liam Coen details Jaguars plan for Travis Hunter against Bengals: 'Likely uptick' on his defensive snaps

Hunter's role could be different this week against the Bengals

In Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars two-way star Travis Hunter logged the majority of his snaps in his NFL debut on offense. The former No. 2 overall pick from the 2025 NFL Draft out of Colorado played 42 snaps on offense and six on defense. He accounted for 64% of his team's snaps on offense and just 9% on defense during the 26-10 win over Carolina.

Heading into Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Hunter's role could change. With Jacksonville facing off against one of the best receiver duos in Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Jaguars coach Liam Coen stated his goal is to "increase" Hunter's defensive snap count.

"It'll be a likely uptick," Coen said. "It's more so, going into Week 1, it was okay, we know that it's not going to be a ton on defense. The goal is to increase and continue to increase. It just so happens that we're playing Cincinnati with two good wideouts this week."

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence targeted Hunter eight times offensively for six catches and 33 yards. On defense, Hunter recorded one tackle and didn't allow a catch in his three coverage snaps, as he wasn't targeted. 

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns and intercepted four passes on defense. Hunter's status as a two-way talent presents a unique challenge for opposing teams as they have to scout for what he can do on both sides of the ball. 

"He's a really good talent," Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. "He's got great quickness. He's got really top-notch hands in terms of the balls he's able to catch. Not easy to bring down. You can see the breakaway element to him, he almost kind of got away with one in the last game where you could see he's got that element to break it away and make it a big play. You saw that on his tape from Colorado. A guy with a lot of confidence."

The Jaguars listed Hunter as a starting wide receiver and a second-string cornerback on the team's initial depth chart earlier this month. Playing Hunter on offense and increasing his snap count on defense was part of the plan Jaguars general manager James Gladstone laid out last month after roster cuts.

"There's a competitive advantage to not knowing what side of the ball he's going to be deployed on fully," Gladstone said. "If that's half, if that's a mixture -- all those sorts of things can vary from one week to the next. And I think the fact that that exists is certainly a hand that we'll keep close."