Less than a month before the Jacksonville Jaguars report for training camp, news emerged that Travis Hunter will be a full participant. This is great news for a Jags team that's looking to build off its impressive 2025. After all, having back after missing a good chunk of his rookie season with a knee injury could be the last piece that propels them into a deep playoff run. That said, the update could be a tad misleading.
While Hunter will indeed be back for training camp, he may not truly be 100 percent until the regular season begins, based on the intel a prominent local reporter dropped.
The Jaguars won't truly get Travis Hunter back until the regular season
Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media originally reported that Travis Hunter will be a full-go for training camp. However, Ryan O'Halloran of The Florida Times-Union posted on Twitter that the former Heisman Trophy winner will not be a full-go but rather fully cleared, adding that he won't be back at full strength until the season opener against the Cleveland Browns.
This means that Hunter could be in a snap count early in training camp and will progressively see his playing time increase. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, the last thing Jacksonville wants is to watch the West Palm Beach, Florida native re-injure his knee. Either way, he's still expected to play two-way next season; it's just that the coaching staff won't be able to fully deploy him until Week 1.
It's also worth noting that the Jags don't have to rush Hunter back to action since there's still ample time before the regular season begins. Heck, they could afford to hold him back at this point in 2025 if he were to suffer a setback. Simply put, the team's brass is better off erring on the side of caution.
On the other hand, this approach will allow other players to get snaps. On offense, rookies CJ William and Josh Cameron will benefit from the extra work, while sophomore Jabbar Muhammad and fourth-year veteran Christian Braswell could showcase their talent at corner.
The Jaguars can afford to wait for Travis Hunter to be 100 percent
If the Jaguars want to get over the hump in 2026, they'll need Travis Hunter to turn into a key contributor. Thus, they need to be cautious in his recovery. Then again, they cannot just put him on a bubble. No. 12 needs to get used to cutting and getting hit. That takes time. Fortunately for him and Jacksonville, they have plenty.
Either way, the Jags have enough depth to bring Hunter slowly. Of course, they can speed up the timeline of his recovery depending on how things played out in training camp, but they don't truly have to.
Ultimately, the Jaguars know that there's no point in rushing Travis Hunter back on the field, and if they have to wait for him one more month to truly count on him, they can definitely afford to wait.
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