The interception ended up not standing, on account of a teammate’s pass-interference penalty, but Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Travis Hunter reminded everybody of the magic that can occur with a football
in his hands.
After Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow floated the pass to him in the first quarter of Jacksonville’s eventual 22-17 win Sunday Oct. 4, Hunter juked Tee Higgins across the Ohio River into Kentucky before darting upfield for a 30-yard return.
Do not assume that the juke will compel Jags head coach Liam Coen to rethink the 23-year-old’s role with increased looks on offense. Because through the first four weeks of the 2026 season, the two-way collegiate star who won the 2024 Heisman Trophy while playing for Deion Sanders at the University of Colorado, has found a more-permanent home in the Jaguars’ defense, one of the most dominant units so far this season.
“Look at the last two weeks, what he's been able to do while we stay firm on the plan,” Coen said of resisting the temptation of frequently playing Hunter on both sides of the ball. “And so, will it come? Absolutely.”
General manager James Gladstone said Hunter “embodies belief” upon drafting him No. 2 overall following a draft-day trade in 2025. After a rookie season in which he did not play up to that standard, those lofty expectations are certainly in sight – even if the designs of having him play both offense (receiver) and defense (cornerback) in the pros, like he did in college, were perhaps a tad audacious.
“I thought overall that was Travis' best game,” Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile said this week of the Bengals matchup. “I think he's becoming more comfortable.”
Improvement in his “eyes and fundamentals,” Campanile said, have fueled the growth evident in the cornerback’s game. Campanile also credited the work Hunter puts in with defensive pass game coordinator Mat Araujo, who designed drills to make Hunter more comfortable with his defensive assignments.
“And him knowing the system and being more comfortable, obviously like anything else, the more you play, the more comfortable you are,” Campanile said.
The Jaguars’ defense leads the league with eight takeaways, highlighted by six interceptions, which is tied for the league lead. Hunter recorded the first interception of his Jaguars' career defending near their own goal line late in the first half Week 3 against the New England Patriots. Pats QB Drake Maye forced a throw in the back of the end zone, and Hunter was there to corral it for the career milestone – looking very much like a receiver running a route himself.
TRAVIS HUNTER PICKS OFF DRAKE MAYE
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 27, 2026
FIRST CAREER-INT 🔥
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/Iwu59OxOwL
Hunter led the team with 76 defensive snaps against the Bengals and surrendered three catches on six targets for 21 yards in coverage against one of the most vaunted receiver units in the league, even with Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase exiting in the first quarter with a concussion. His two pass breakups also led the Jags.
“We got more to prove,” Hunter told reporters this week. “We still got more games, we got more weeks to come, and every team is gonna want to beat us… Nobody is going to give us a win.”
Hunter’s “interception” against Cincinnati happened to be near where Campanile was standing on the sideline, and the defensive coordinator had a premium vantage point of the return. But he said the play that he kept thinking about from the Cincinnati game was a tackle, one of four Hunter made in the win, on the Bengals’ sideline. In addition to the athleticism, Campanile said, Hunter displayed the physicality he’s been playing with this year.
“That was great to see, too. I'm excited for him really in every facet,” Campanile said, “because I think he is improving.”
Hunter’s rookie season ended with knee surgery to repair the isolated lateral collateral ligament (LCL) that he injured during practice Oct. 30, 2025.
Travis Hunter defensive vs. offensive snaps
Before that Hunter played 67% of the Jags’ snaps on offense, with four starts in seven games, and 36% of defensive snaps. The usage rate has been flipped – and then some – in 2026. Hunter has been on the field for 74% of defensive snaps, and just 6% of the time on offense.
For Jaguars safety Antonio Johnson, the most impressive part of the Hunter's called-back INT wasn’t the juke that quickly spread online.
“He's a dynamic ball player, especially when the ball's in his hands,” Johnson said. “He played receiver and he just turned into the receiver, made him miss. And when he get the ball in his hand, you expect him to make crazy plays like that. It doesn't surprise us.”
Securing the ball in the first place and winning the 50-50 ball against Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is what got Johnson’s attention. When Jaguars coaches showed the highlight during meetings this week as the Jaguars prepare to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in London, England (9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network), there was the typical laughter and excitement that fills a room when the team is on the right side of a play like that, according to Johnson.
“I feel like he came into the year confident, and we had the confidence in him to come back and be the same player that he was before his injury,” Johnson said.
Johnson continued: “I think his confidence is right where we need it to be as a team, and personally for him as a player, because that's what we need for this stretch before we go into the bye week for him to keep building in the right direction for the rest of the year.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jaguars slowed plan to make Travis Hunter a two-way star. It's paying off
