Jacksonville Jaguars WR/CB Travis Hunter expects more time on defense against the Bengals.
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Jacksonville Jaguars WR/CB Travis Hunter expects more time on defense against the Bengals.
On Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals will host the Jacksonville Jaguars. Both teams are coming off big wins (neither win was big) in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers respectively.
For the Bengals, it seems like there is at least one thing that will be different with these Jags. They are going to see more of wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter on defense, according to head coach Liam Coen.
“It’ll be a likely uptick. It’s more so, going into Week 1, it was, ‘OK, we know that it’s not going to be a ton on defense,’” Coen told reporters. “The goal is to increase and continue to increase (his defensive snaps). It just so happens that we’re playing Cincinnati with two good wideouts this week.”
Those two Cincinnati Bengals wideouts are Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins
The two receivers that Coen is referring to are, of course, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Last year, they had 200 receptions for 2,619 yards, even though Higgins missed seven games. In the win over Cleveland, Chase and Higgins didn’t do much. They combined for just five catches for a measly 59 yards.
Jaguars fans could look at that one of two ways: They are due to break out, or, maybe they are in for more rough days.
ESPN’s Ben Baby is already sounding some alarms about Chase (which is utterly ridiculous).
“Chase just never got involved in Sunday’s game,” Baby writes. “He had two catches on five targets for 26 yards. While the Browns are always a tough matchup because of defensive end Myles Garrett and cornerback Denzel Ward, Cincinnati has taken great pride in finding ways to get Chase the ball. But that didn’t happen. Getting more out of him is the only way to justify the team’s $161 million investment.”
Coen praises Cincinnati Bengals’ dynamic duo
While Baby is concerned with Chase earning his money, Coen doesn’t seem all that worried. He praised the duo of Chase and Higgins and knows his Jags will have a daunting task.
“I mean, there’s some good tandems out there for sure, but the way they’ve done it at a high level now for a number of years, the chemistry, they go to a Super Bowl, they’ve won, they’ve known how to win,” Coen said. “Zac [Taylor has] done a great job there with getting those guys where they are now. They’ve played in a difficult division. They’ve played a ton of difficult games, tight games over the years.
“They’ve pulled some of those out in some critical moments. Play Kansas City tough every year, so this is a team that knows how to win. They’re well coached and they have some talent.”
Despite Coen’s praise, Baby – again – is acting like we’re in the twelfth week of watching Cincinnati ineptitude.
“Coming into the 2025 season, the expectation was for the offense to be one of the best in the NFL. Despite a win and a full preseason and training camp workload, that did not exactly come to fruition.”
Will Hunter help the Jaguars contain them? Or, was last week’s game against the Browns merely an aberration and one or both are primed for big games?