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Michael DiRoccoAug 1, 2025, 10:25 PM ET
- Michael DiRocco is an NFL Nation newsman astatine ESPN and covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. He antecedently covered the University of Florida for implicit a decennary for ESPN and the Florida Times-Union. DiRocco graduated from Jacksonville University and is simply a aggregate APSE grant winner.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Travis Hunter made a bigger splash connected discourtesy than helium did connected defence connected Friday night, but Jacksonville Jaguars caput manager Liam Coen views the rookie's two-way debut arsenic thing but successful.
Hunter played 38 snaps -- 17 with the first-team discourtesy and 21 with the first-team defence -- successful the Jaguars' scrimmage successful beforehand of 11,000 astatine EverBank Stadium, the archetypal clip helium had played connected some sides of the shot successful grooming camp.
"I thought it was great," Coen said. "We got him the enactment that we wanted to get with him connected discourtesy aboriginal connected and past capable to get him connected defence and get him capable reps. That was what we were hoping to bash contiguous successful presumption of conscionable get him connected some sides of the ball, prime work. I cognize helium [didn't] get overmuch [action astatine cornerback] due to the fact that of the [first-team] D-line was getting a bully rush, truthful it was a small hard to see.
"I thought erstwhile helium had the shot successful his hands [on offense] and helium operated, helium operated astatine a precocious level."
Hunter caught 3 passes for 43 yards -- including a 21-yard drawback successful the mediate of the tract that enactment the discourtesy successful the reddish portion -- and was targeted different clip successful the extremity zone. That propulsion from Trevor Lawrence was a small behind, which allowed linebacker Ventrell Miller to sound it away.
"Pretty chill [with the shot successful his hands] successful space, isn't he?" Coen said.
Backup backmost Nick Mullens did not propulsion astatine Hunter connected defense.
Coen heaped adjacent much praise connected Lawrence than helium did connected Hunter, describing Lawrence's show arsenic "awesome." The erstwhile No. 1 wide prime completed 19-of-27 passes for 241 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception. Two of Lawrence's touchdown passes went to second-year receiver Brian Thomas Jr., who had six catches for 65 yards.
Lawrence's different touchdown walk was a 5-yarder to choky extremity Brenton Strange connected third-and-goal with little than 10 seconds remaining successful the scrimmage. His interception came connected a propulsion successful the backmost country of the extremity portion to receiver Parker Washington that cornerback Zechariah McPhearson snagged aft dropping disconnected his receiver.
The walk down Hunter and the interception were the lone mistakes, Coen said.
"I thought helium was making sharp, accelerated decisions," Coen said astir Lawrence. "The shot was getting driven constantly. He missed a fewer for sure.
"... But I conscionable thought [other than those 2 throws] helium made bully crisp decisions. I thought helium ran the amusement well. I thought it was a bully nighttime for him."
