Travis Hunter: Debut with Nerves and Good Signs on the Field
Jacksonville, Florida – Jacksonville Jaguars rookie receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter admitted to feeling anxious before his NFL debut on Saturday night. Despite this, Hunter proved his worth on the field. Hunter expressed that nerves are common in every game he has played. “I was a little nervous at the beginning,” Hunter commented, “But after the first play, I was fine.” In the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which ended in a 31-25 defeat for the Jaguars at EverBank Stadium, Hunter participated in 18 plays. On offense, he played 10 snaps, all in the first series of the game, achieving two receptions for 9 yards. Another reception was nullified due to an illegal block penalty. According to data, Hunter ran six routes, five of them from the slot. Hunter and Brian Thomas Jr. were the most targeted by Trevor Lawrence, with two targets each. On defense, Hunter participated in eight plays and had one missed tackle.Hunter’s missed tackle was against Steelers running back Kaleb Johnson near the line of scrimmage. There was also a play where there appeared to be confusion in coverage, allowing a Steelers receiver to get behind Hunter inside the 10-yard line. Although the ball wasn’t thrown in that direction, defensive backs coach Anthony Perkins spoke with Hunter on the next play, as did safety Andrew Wingard. “We can forget about that [the missed tackle] immediately and go back to what we were doing,” Hunter said. “I know what I have to do next time.” Hunter’s greater involvement on offense coincides with his use during training camp. In the first 12 practices, Hunter has participated in 140 offensive plays and 116 defensive plays in 11-on-11 drills.He made a couple of good catches on some option routes and missed a defensive tackle that I noticed. I’ll have to watch the tape to see how he operated defensively a little more, but I thought offensively, he made the right decisions on those option routes. He made a good catch, almost broke away from that one where Trevor [Lawrence] put it behind him on that third down we talked about, but I’ll have to go watch the tape a little more to know more.
Liam Coen
