The 2025 season is over for Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Travis Hunter, after the rookie sensation underwent knee surgery, but the discussions about him are still going strong. Fans and media members are still debating whether he should play both ways or not, which side he should stick to, and if playing both ways had anything to do with his season-ending knee injury. A lot of people are even wondering if the injury will discourage the Jags from trying to play him both ways.
It will be a while before Hunter is back on the field, but Jacksonville has already answered that question. The Jaguars drafted Hunter to star at receiver and corner, and they aren’t moving off those plans anytime soon. NFL insider Ian Rapoport revealed that on Sunday, saying, sources out of Jacksonville expressed that the plan remains for Hunter to be a two-way star.
The Insiders on @NFLGameDay Kickoff with @MikeGarafolo and @TomPelissero: #Jaguars plan for Travis Hunter to play both ways moving forward; An audition for #Giants interim coach Mike Kafka; How Bill Belichick could, potentially, land his next NFL HC job. pic.twitter.com/mDbXqdnz40
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 16, 2025
Related: 5 prominent players who probably won't be back with the Jags next year
Travis Hunter will still play both ways for Jaguars when he returns in 2026
This is exciting news for those who don’t want to limit Travis Hunter, and for everyone who enjoyed seeing him make elite plays on both sides of the ball during the first seven games of his career. In those seven games, Hunter caught 28 passes for 298 yards and a touchdown, while also deflecting three passes and recording 15 tackles.
While the reigning Heisman Trophy winner hadn’t been unleashed fully on either side of the ball yet, he was flashing the potential to be Jacksonville’s best wideout and defensive back. In particular, he showed just how much of a playmaker he can be when he hauled in eight receptions for 101 yards with one touchdown against the Rams.
Rapoport explains that the Jaguars were actually planning to increase Hunter’s usage prior to his injury. Jacksonville was coming off a Week 8 Bye, and used the bye to reflect on Hunter’s first seven games, and decide how the team would use him going forward. The answer was more on both sides of the ball, but the injury put that plan on hold for the rest of this season.
While Travis Hunter will miss the rest of the season, his LCL injury isn’t expected to sideline him as long as other ligament surgeries typically do. The belief is that the young playmaker could be back on the field in time for OTAs, giving him a full offseason to prepare for year two of playing both ways in the NFL.