Jaguars GM Reveals Team’s Plan for Travis Hunter’s Two-Way Status After Knee Injury

Travis Hunter’s rookie season was cut short by a knee injury. | Travis Register-Imagn Images

The Jaguars’ 2025 season came to an end at the hands of the Bills over the weekend in the wild card round of this year’s NFL playoffs. It was a disappointing conclusion to the season but there were plenty of positives for Jacksonville to build on in the first year of the Liam Coen-James Gladstone partnership. It was, however, a bit of a mixed bag for the franchise’s first-round draft pick, Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.

The Jags picked Hunter second in the 2025 NFL draft and tried to take advantage of his wide-ranging skillset by giving him snaps on both sides of the ball, hoping to replicate the success he found at Colorado as a two-way player. It didn’t prove to be the smoothest transition. Hunter lined up for 67% of the team’s offensive snaps and 36% of the defensive snaps but didn’t make many big plays on either side of the ball. Then he suffered a season-ending knee injury that wound up requiring surgery and spent the last few months of the Jaguars’ season rehabbing instead of participating in the playoff run.

After Hunter got hurt Coen said it was “premature” to discuss whether he would continue to play both sides of the ball. On Wednesday, he and Gladstone met with the media to discuss the offseason and more light was shed on the team’s plans for Hunter.

Gladstone first shared a positive update: Hunter’s rehab is going “as expected” and the 22-year-old is “hitting it hard.” Then he shared that the Jaguars fully expect Hunter to play two ways once he’s healthy and ready to go.

“Very fair to say his rehab process is going as expected and he’s hitting it hard,” Gladstone told reporters. “The joy that he brings to just the everyday operation is still something that permeates throughout the space that he enters.

“Beyond that and the role that he’ll play, we still expect him to play both sides of the ball. You can take a peek at expiring contracts on our roster and which side of the ball has more. At this point walking into the offseason corner is a position that, we have a few guys who are on expiring contracts. So by default you can expect there to be a higher emphasis on his placement.

“The steps that 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 on both sides of the ball and what that impact would look like, being a feature point on offense and an impact player on defense. It was just disappointing timing but nonetheless feel good about where we are heading into this offseason and what next year should hold.”

“He’s hitting it hard… We still expect him to play on both sides of the ball.”

James Gladstone on Travis Hunter’s rehab process and the energy he brings each day. pic.twitter.com/KRguDGVynR

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) January 14, 2026

It sounds like the Jaguars hope Hunter can fill in wherever he is needed most, which is an interesting plan. It reflects their belief that he is equally as impactful on both offense and defense. The eye test suggests Hunter was more comfortable playing corner than receiver in his first season but he still racked up 28 catches for 298 yards so he wasn’t invisible while catching passes from Trevor Lawrence by any means. And Jacksonville definitely needs more help at cornerback than receiver after midseason acquisition Jakobi Meyers wound up a huge hit and the emergence of Parker Washington down the stretch of the season.

Regardless it’s going to be a fascinating storyline to watch as Hunter enters his second season. First he must make it through rehab following knee surgery, which is going well so far according to Gladstone. The Jaguars are surely glad to have that peace of mind as they enter an important offseason.

---