Why are the Jaguars using CB/WR Travis Hunter sparingly?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Travis Hunter has had a relatively quiet start to his second season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The 2025 No. 2 overall pick started both games at cornerback but is being rotated in and out during games. He has been on the field for only 57.4% of the team's defensive snaps. On offense, he has played 11 snaps and touched the ball twice for a total of 11 yards.

That might raise some concern that the Jaguars are either misusing Hunter -- a player general manager James Gladstone said would "alter the trajectory of the sport" -- or he is struggling. However, the organization is not concerned. They say Hunter's decreased role, especially as part of the cornerback rotation, is by design.

"We did it for the most part of the last season as well, before Travis got hurt," coach Liam Coen said. "It's something that we got to continue to do. We have corners that we have confidence in. Those guys can all make plays for us. They can all communicate for us. They've been in the system now.

"But yeah, it's a rotation. Pre-game, we have it all laid out. The players know it. They all know the rotation. It's been clearly laid out to them what the expectations and standards are."

Hunter doesn't seem to have a problem with the way he's being used.

"Coaches tell me what I've got to do. I just follow the plan and follow their lead," Hunter said in the locker room after the Jaguars' 20-13 loss to Denver last Sunday. "My job is to play no matter when they put me out there so that's what I try to do."

Hunter is rotating with Montaric Brown and Jarrian Jones at outside cornerback. Two of those three are on the field on each drive. Hunter has played 62 defensive snaps in the Jaguars' two games. Brown has played the most defensive snaps (85, 78.7%) of the trio, per ESPN Research. Jones has played 72 (66.7%).

Defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile said that's not a knock on Hunter but more because they like the way Brown -- whom the Jaguars signed to a three-year, $31.8 million contract extension in the spring -- and Jones performed in the offseason and training camp.

Through two games, Jones is allowing a 37.5% completion rate as the nearest defender, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Brown is at 66.7% and Hunter at 75%. Hunter and Jones each have a pass breakup while Brown leads the trio with six tackles (Hunter has five and Jones has one).

"We feel like we had a bunch of good players there, guys that do a good job and have worked their tail off," Campanile said. "We feel good about all those guys. So keeping them fresh and rotating them all, that's kind of been the philosophy behind [the rotation]."

What is a little surprising is that the Jaguars haven't played Hunter much on offense -- just four snaps against Cleveland and seven against Denver -- considering he played 67% of the team's offensive snaps in seven games last season before his season-ending knee injury. Hunter has one catch for 8 yards and one carry for 3 yards, both of which came in the opener against the Browns. He had 28 catches for 298 yards and a touchdown last season.

However, it's not just Hunter whose usage is down. Receiver Parker Washington leads the Jaguars with 18 targets and receiver Brian Thomas Jr. is second with 12, but tight end Brenton Strange has just five and receiver Jakobi Meyers has three. This week, Coen said we could see Hunter be more involved offensively on Sunday against New England (1 p.m. ET, CBS).

"Anytime you struggle, offensively specifically, you look at the totality of it all and Travis is a big part of [the offense]," Coen said. "We're looking at continuing to find different ways to get him involved. I thought he did a nice job, throughout the course of [last] week and we're going to look at giving him some more this week."

Strange and Meyers need to be involved more, too, quarterback Trevor Lawrence said.

"We got to do a better job getting everybody involved," he said. "... The offense is going to run through everyone at some point, though. It's not a one-man show. And I think everyone on our team knows that."

Coen said Hunter's reduced playing time is partly due to the time he missed last season after suffering an LCL injury to his left knee during the team's bye week. He wasn't cleared for full participation until training camp in late July. But he did spend a lot of time rehabbing in the team's virtual meeting room, which allowed him to line up anywhere and get an immersive view of what the opposing offenses and defenses were doing.

"I think it definitely has some form of an effect," Coen said. "You can walk through, you can do a million things in the walkthrough room, in the meeting room settings, but he just missed a lot of pitching and catching. Just missed a lot of chemistry with the quarterback."

Hunter noted on Thursday that he has played only nine NFL games and feels he has made progress.

"I feel like I just move a lot quicker. I know a lot more what I did last year, and I just feel like the guys are starting to trust me a little more every week," he said. "... I'm just happy that I can continue to get better. We got a game coming up, so that's the best thing."