Travis Hunter’s rookie season in the NFL is officially over.
The Heisman Trophy winner, selected second in the 2025 NFL draft, played both sides of the ball for the Jaguars in the first seven games of Jacksonville’s season. Then he suffered a knee injury in practice and was placed on injured reserve ahead of Week 9. Shortly thereafter the franchise announced the worst news possible—Hunter would require surgery and his season was done.
It’s a huge bummer given how exciting Hunter’s potential is as the first true two-way player in the modern NFL. It also takes away another playmaker from Trevor Lawrence and a Jaguars offense that ranks below average in most offensive stats. Above all it further clouds the idea of whether his body can handle a full workload on both offense and defense in the league.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday for the first time since Hunter’s season ended, coach Liam Coen was asked if the former Colorado star would continue to play two ways in light of the injury. Coen declined to get into the subject, saying it was awfully “premature” to have those discussions.
“You know, all that’s very premature to answer at this point,” Coen said to assembled media. “You have a lot of confidence in the makeup, the person, the competitor, the athlete, the talent. Like I said to [Hunter], so many players have gone through minor setbacks for major comebacks. And that’s been the complete message to him.”
Jaguars HC Liam Coen was asked about Travis Hunter's future as a two-way-player in 2026 following his season-ending surgery ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/yH6rQUkX3a
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 12, 2025
It makes sense for Coen to play it safe with any post-injury expectations given they have no idea what Hunter will look like after surgery. Given the medical technology of today and the recent history of players returning from knee injuries at full strength it’s a solid bet that Hunter will be just fine. But there’s no need for his coach to pose such assumptions to the media when he won’t be back on the field for months.
The team announcement on Hunter’s surgery revealed he’s expected to return to football activities within the next six months. So they won’t have to wait too long to see the young star back in action.
For those wondering just how relevant Hunter’s two-way status is, the stats show the Jaguars really did lean into his talents on both sides of the ball.
With his rookie season in the books Hunter officially played 67% of Jacksonville’s offense snaps. He paired that with 36% of all defensive snaps. In total he racked up 298 yards receiving and a touchdown on 28 catches, as well as 15 tackles and three passes defended. In retrospect Hunter looked decent on both ends but struggled to stand out—which is probably to be expected given he was adjusting to NFL speed and the Jags’ playbook.
We’ll have to wait until next season to see if the Jaguars have the same plan in mind for Hunter.
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