The Jacksonville Jaguars lost their transcendent two-way player for the remainder of the season after Travis Hunter underwent knee surgery.
That end, however, was just the beginning of questions regarding what's next for the two-way player.
Sources say Jacksonville does, in fact, plan to continue to deploy Hunter as their top wide receiver and matchup cornerback moving forward.
In fact, prior to Hunter's non-contact injury during practice on Oct. 30, he was ramping up to be used more, not less.
Hunter shined on both sides of the ball during a Week 7 game in London against the Rams on Oct. 19. The 22-year-old did well when covering star receiver Davante Adams, while also notching career highs in receptions (eight) and receiving yards (101) while also scoring his first career touchdown. Hunter's role of taking on a specific defensive assignment -- red-zone scenarios, track one WR, etc. -- was going to increase and, based on the way he was getting open, his targets as a top receiver along with Brian Thomas Jr. were slated to rise, as well.
In the aftermath of Hunter's season-ending knee injury, Jaguars head coach Liam Coen declined to specify the team's future plans for the player they traded multiple draft picks (including a 2026 first-rounder) to select at No. 2 overall, saying all eyes were on the Chargers, their opponent on Sunday.
"All of those things are very premature," Coen said on Nov. 12. "Like every player, he'll be evaluated at the end of the season and we'll give him the things he did (best) and the things to improve on. Right now, our focus is on Chargers."
Hunter played 323 snaps on offense and 158 snaps on defense this season as a full-time receiver and part-time cornerback. While that ratio may not change, the plan was to ramp up Hunter's usage. Jacksonville believed Hunter was about to truly go off on the field.
Then, Hunter injured his knee in practice. Originally, the thought was that it was a minor injury, potentially one to have him back after a few weeks. But Hunter needed to wait for the swelling to go down for arthroscopic surgery, which then revealed the nature of his injury, which was an isolated LCL tear with a six-month recovery.
While Hunter's knee injury is relatively rare, Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice suffered the same injury last season and has shown no ill effects with 20 receptions for 215 yards with four total touchdowns in three games.
The belief is Hunter won't either.
Hunter will rehab in Jacksonville, allowing him to be close to Dr. Kevin Kaplan, the team doctor who performed the surgery with Dr. Dan Cooper in Dallas.
As for Hunter's future on the field, Coen said part of it will be looking at where the team needs him most. His rookie season has been a learning experience.
"But I have a lot of confidence in the makeup and the person, the competitor, the athlete," Coen said.
