Jaguars Provide Timeline for Travis Hunter Injury Return

T

he Jacksonville Jaguars will soon welcome back one of their biggest stars. Drafted No. 2 overall by the team last season, two-way star Travis Hunter did not have the rookie season that he was expecting, catching only 28 passes for 298 yards and a touchdown while making only 15 tackles on defense with no interceptions before injuring his knee after seven games. Seeing his rookie season cut short, Hunter failed to live up expectations to start his career.

But Hunter could soon return and begin preparing for a bounce back sophomore campaign. On Thursday, April 9, Jaguars general manager, James Gladstone, provided a timeline for Hunter’s return– suggesting that Hunter will absolutely be at full strength by the time the season starts.

Hunter’s Return Timeline

Hunter has been rehabbing all offseason and while his status for minicamps and OTAs are still to be determined, Gladstone said that Hunter should be fine by the start of training camp.

“He’ll be, for all intents and purposes, a limited participant through the offseason program with eyes on [a] return to play at full tick in training camp,” Gladstone said to NFL.com’s Jeremy Bergman.

Hunter played both wide receiver and cornerback for the Jaguars last season, but injured his knee during an October practice. While initially not a big concern, the injury ended up being a torn LCL, keeping Hunter sidelined for the rest of his rookie campaign. While the Jaguars still made the playoff without him, the Jaguars invested a lot in Hunter and hope that he pans out.

The Plan for The Hunter Returns

Hunter’s injury raised questions about the Jaguars’ plans for him in the future and if they want to continue using Hunter as a two-way player. Hunter is the first full-time two-way player in the NFL in recent history and still young, entering his age-23 season, preserving the star is most important. But according to Gladstone, the Jaguars still plan to use Hunter on both sides of the ball, while still making sure to keep him healthy.

“We still expect him to play on both sides of the ball. … The steps that he was taking by the midpoint of the season really made us feel good about what the back half of the year was going to be on both sides of the ball and what that impact was going to look like being a feature point on offense and an impact player on defense,” Gladstone said. “It [the injury] was just disappointing timing but nonetheless feel good about where we are heading into this offseason and what next year should hold.”

The 2024 Heisman Trophy winner, Hunter led all of college football that season in snaps played at 1,400– over 300 more than the second highest total. Totaling 96 catches for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns on offense while recording four interceptions on defense, Hunter proved his eliteness on both sides of the ball– the reason why the Jaguars traded up to draft him.

Dylan Grausz A lifelong sports fan, Dylan channels his passion for sports into being a journalist, where his primary goal is to provide readers with content that they love to read. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Dylan’s love for the Warriors, 49ers and Giants runs deep, having the ultimate dream of being a beat reporter for one of those teams. More about Dylan Grausz