Jaguars' Travis Hunter continues to stack good performances

Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter found himself on an island.

Not the kind he’d typically find himself on as a defensive back in single coverage against a pass catcher. It wasn’t the other way around, either, when he’s a receiver with no help over the top hoping to beat a defensive back for a deep pass.

Hunter was the lone man in front of offensive lineman Ezra Cleveland as the Jaguars called a run play to Hunter’s side of the field during the fourteenth practice of training camp at the Miller Electric Center. He was tasked with a job cornerbacks often dread. Show indecision and risk being plowed through by an opponent twice your size. 

Act too fast, and you might take the wrong angle, freeing the ball carrier for a big

gain.

From the Archives: Travis Hunter is why we're all here, right?

Hunter exploded into Cleveland without a second to think, holding his ground and giving his teammates time to swarm the running back before he could gain any substantial yardage.

It was the first real physicality Hunter had seen in more than nine months, the first real chance he’d had to take the car wreck-like collisions that are all too common in football.

And he didn’t flinch, showing off the new physique he built during his recovery from the season-ending LCL injury last October.

“I bet a lot of people think he doesn’t want physicality. No, he’s all about it,” defensive backs coach Mat Araujo said during training camp. “When I was evaluating him, heading into getting this job, that’s there. That’s not new. He just now has a little more armor to do it.”

Bengals pick up the first down but Travis Hunter flies in for the big hit 😳

JAXvsCIN on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/K29JxAC8EH

— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2026

Hunter said he gained 13 pounds of muscle during the offseason and looked visibly stronger when the team hit the grass in the preseason. It’s allowed him to cover receivers better as the team is primarily focused on his defensive usage at this point in the season.

Hunter showed that physicality in Jacksonville’s 22-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, flying down to deliver a big hit on wide receiver Dohnte Meyers in the first half. It was one of several highlights for Hunter, as he had one of his best games as a professional.

Arguably his best game came last fall when the Jaguars faced the Los Angeles Rams in London. Hunter had career highs in receiving yards, targets, receptions and scored his lone NFL touchdown in the contest. He caught eight passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.

It was the most he'd been used on offense to that point, but what really stood out was his third-down stop on future Hall of Famer route runner Devonte Adams. Hunter was the only player who could cover Adams that day and showed what was to come on defense.

Travis Hunter stars on the defensive side of the ball at the right time for the Jaguars

Hunter’s game against Cincinnati last week was evidence of stacked reps. He recorded his first interception in the NFL in Week 3 against the New England Patriots, but he almost snagged his first pick a week earlier on the opening drive against the Denver Broncos when he jumped a route and couldn’t reel in a sideline pass.

After missing most of the offseason while recovering from season-ending knee surgery, he has four pass deflections and an interception in Jacksonville’s first four games this season. The law of averages suggests those numbers will keep growing the more he’s on the field.

“I tell him every day, ‘It’s you versus you.’ He can go out and cover a lot of guys, just being talented and being able to move,” Araujo said. “That can’t be the standard. That can’t be good enough. You have to go put you on the field and they have to figure out how to play against you.”

Hunter has already started earning the respect typically given to the NFL's top cornerbacks. Against the Bengals, Joe Burrow seemed to avoid targeting Hunter’s side of the field as the game went on.

Hunter caught his second interception of the year, snagging an errant throw from Burrow and putting a quick move on Tee Higgins to get past him. A roughing-the-passer penalty wiped out the play, but it was enough to discourage Burrow from targeting Hunter’s side of the field frequently afterward.

According to NFL Pro, Hunter was targeted seven times against the Bengals, allowing four receptions for 30 yards. By comparison, Burrow targeted Jarrian Jones 18 times, and the third-year defensive back allowed 11 receptions for 123 yards.

It was clear which corner they felt more comfortable targeting, especially as Hunter showed how dangerous he is with the ball.

“Just the instincts,” quarterback Trevor Lawrence said when asked what makes Hunter a good cornerback. “A lot of people talk about all the measurables for athleticism with those guys, but a lot of playing corner is just the instincts, ball skills, feel for the game. He has all those.”

Travis Hunter looked better than ever at corner against Cincinnati today.

Hunter was around the ball and making plays all afternoon. pic.twitter.com/oBHCRplAuh

— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) October 4, 2026

Jaguars’ Liam Coen, James Gladstone defend their Hunter selection and plan

When the Jaguars and Cleveland Browns faced off in the season-opener, it marked the first time the teams competed against one another since they swapped draft picks last April in the trade for Hunter.

The Browns received a 2025 first-round pick, a 2025 second-round pick, a 2025 fourth-round pick and a 2026 first-round pick, while the Jaguars received a 2025 sixth-round pick, a 2025 fourth-round pick,and a 2025 first-round pick that they used to secure Hunter.

It was a swap that’ll be debated for years as both teams evaluate the return on their investment. For the Jaguars, Hunter’s ability to impact both sides of the ball made it a worthwhile deal.

After a year of evaluation — including Hunter’s shortened rookie season and an entire offseason of rehab — general manager James Gladstone’s vision for Hunter hasn’t shifted.

“I think the great part about having him on our roster is that as dynamics shift over the course of an offseason or over the course of the regular season, you get to use him in different ways,” he said. “As it stands, the composition of our roster would indicate, hey, defensive output full-time is going to be where we see him contributing in the most ways.”

It’s the same thing he insinuated in January at his end-of-season press conference. It’s been reflected through Hunter’s reps during training camp and since the regular season began.

Hunter has played 175 defensive snaps through four games, including a career-high 71 last week against the Bengals. He’s played 15 offensive snaps this season. Obviously, outside factors have played into those numbers and context adds perspective to his usage.

Two of those games were blowout wins where the Jaguars were up enough points in the second half that it didn’t matter. Jacksonville’s offense overall struggled in the loss to the Broncos, scoring a season-low 13 points.

Last week, the team was down cornerback Montaric Brown, so the Jaguars were unwilling to risk an injury on offense that’d leave them without two of their top cornerbacks.

Still, the team is standing fully behind their plan with Hunter. And they have the right to do that, after having the courage to go get the two-way Heisman winner.

“He cares about winning. That's what he cares about,” Coen said of Hunter. “And all the other stuff — the reps, where we picked him, does that value — like I don't give two [expletives] about value, and neither does he. We care about winning, and that's it.”

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' Travis Hunter continues to stack good performances