The Jacksonville Jaguars raised questions about Travis Hunter's health when they had him sit out the last two preseason games. However, general manager James Gladstone just quelled concerns about his availability for the season opener, pointing out that the reigning Heisman Trophy winner will be ready to roll against the Carolina Panthers in the opener.
On top of that, head coach Liam Coen says that his onboarding has been a resounding success.
Jaguars HC Liam Coen is pleased with Travis Hunter's development
Liam Coen met with the local media a couple days after the cutdown deadline and said that he was disappointed Travis Hunter missed time with injury but otherwise believes he's come along nicely.
"That was a bummer to not have him for I mean, shoot, what's been 10 days or so? So that's obviously a bummer to lose that time, because it was doing this for sure," Coen responded when asked whether Hunter's onboarding was successful (6:31 mark). "But I think, from a scheduling standpoint, I do think that it's been a success. He still wants more, which is good, but he's gotta also hone in on the details and get back to that after being away for 10 days. But I do believe it's a success."
Coen continued, "I think we'll have a good AAR about it after to really look at, was that the best plan? How do we look at it for next offseason? And how does that look like for next training camp? Maybe now is not the time to have that, but that's what we will do, and kind of reevaluate how he handles a game plan on both sides of the ball, because so much of it's going to be training camp plays, right? You want to go out and execute what you do best in the first game because you don't have truly any scout tape on what they are right now."
Hunter suffered an upper-body injury after the preseason opener and was held out for the subsequent games. But based on comments from both Coen and Gladstone, his health isn't an issue for the Week 1 matchup against the Panthers.
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The Jaguars did a well job getting Travis Hunter ready for his NFL debut
Leaving aside whether Travis Hunter was going to be able to play two ways in the NFL, how the Jaguars managed his transition to the pros was a big question after the draft. Right off the bat, James Gladstone said the team had a plan in place to bring him along.
Hunter started his onboarding exclusively at receiver because of the nuances of the position. He began to get reps at corner at mandatory minicamp. The West Palm Beach native then started to practice on both sides on the same day in training camp.
It all culminated when he played on offense and defense in the preseason. Sure, his absence from the preseason, as Liam Coen noted, put a temporary halt to his development, but that shouldn't affect him in the regular season.
When you take into account that the Jaguars had no control over Travis Hunter's preseason injury, and based on how things have unfolded, it is indeed fair to say that his onboarding was a success.
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