Sources – Jaguars plan to make use of Travis Hunter as ‘every-down’ WR in Week 1

The Jacksonville Jaguars are planning for Travis Hunter to be an “every-down extensive receiver and situational nook” in Sunday’s regular-season opener in opposition to the Carolina Panthers, league sources advised ESPN on Saturday.

Though Hunter is anticipated to play extra extensive receiver than cornerback Sunday, it does not imply that association will maintain in Week 2 or additional into the season, in keeping with sources.

The Jaguars plan to combine up Hunter’s utilization all through the course of the season, sources stated, however they consider there can be some weeks when the rookie can and can be deployed as a full-time extensive receiver and cornerback.

“We’ll must determine it out,” Jaguars head coach Liam Coen advised reporters Friday. “We’ll must all be versatile. We’ll give you that plan over the subsequent 24 hours in phrases like, alright, what are the precise possibly numbers we wish to hit on each side or utilization?”

Jacksonville initially will decide Hunter’s utilization on a week-to-week foundation. The Jaguars wish to maintain their opponents off guard and power them to organize for each risk involving Hunter, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and No. 2 choose on this 12 months’s NFL draft.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Hunter missed Jacksonville’s second preseason recreation (not one of the Jaguars’ starters performed within the preseason finale) and 4 coaching camp practices earlier this summer season due to an upper-body harm.

“He did miss a while, and in order that’s one thing that we simply want to verify we’re conscious of and retaining engaged as coaches to guarantee that, if he is getting a little bit misplaced or does not know what he is doing on a number of issues, effectively, man, possibly we have to reel it again a little bit and get him a relaxation right here possibly for a sec,” Coen stated Friday. “No matter it’s, we have got to be versatile, however I believed he is accomplished a very nice job of dedicating himself to the plan on each side of the ball over the previous few days and he was flying round fairly good right now.”

Hunter has an opportunity to perform one thing that the NFL has not witnessed in over a decade. Since 1980, solely three NFL gamers have began at extensive receiver and cornerback in the identical recreation: Deion Sanders in 1996, Champ Bailey in 2000 and Antonio Cromartie in 2012.

Sanders, who was Hunter’s faculty coach at Colorado, and Bailey are Professional Soccer Corridor of Famers.

Hunter is poised to hitch this record sooner or later this season, however Jacksonville’s Week 1 association — with Hunter set to play extra receiver than cornerback — is according to what the group launched on its first regular-season depth chart, the place he was listed as a beginning extensive receiver and a backup cornerback.

Hunter performed 364 snaps in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 within the 15 coaching camp practices during which he participated absolutely. It was practically a 50-50 cut up: 188 on offense and 176 on protection. In 11-on-11 work, Hunter performed 173 snaps on offense and 168 on protection.

ESPN’s Michael DiRocco contributed to this report.