The Bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for the Jacksonville Jaguars. After getting off to a 4-1 start, punctuated by a huge win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 5, the Jaguars lost their last two games before Week 8. While the break meant Jacksonville had to sit with the feeling of losing a little longer, it gave the team time to reset and reevaluate things.
One thing the Jaguars needed to reevaluate is the usage of rookie sensation Travis Hunter. In his first seven games, Hunter has had impressive moments on both sides of the ball, but he’s been far from a full-time player.
That has left everyone frustrated, as they voiced their opinions on how best to use him. Head coach Liam Coen admitted the team would use the bye to evaluate Hunter’s usage in the first half of the season and determine how much they can put on his plate in the second half of the year.
Jaguars evaluated Travis Hunter’s usage during their bye week
Liam Coen expressed that sentiment before leaving for the bye, and he expressed a similar feeling when the team returned to the building on Monday. The head coach said having a seven-game sample size to look over has been helpful, and that the team is looking at “how much more can he handle, how much more can we put him in a position to be successful on both offense and defense, and what does that look like?”
Of course, the head coach didn’t give the answer of the staff’s findings in his press conference, but fans will likely learn the answer when the Jaguars take the field against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 9.
Things can always change week to week in this league, but Jacksonville will likely want to use the first game back to deploy Hunter in the way they think is best, based on what they studied during the bye week. It will help that Jacksonville will face a Las Vegas defense that ranks in the middle of the pack in both passing touchdowns allowed and total yards allowed.
If the Jaguars end up liking what they see from the rookie, that could be how Travis Hunter is used for the rest of the season.