It looks like Travis Hunter is going to have a bigger role on offense for the Jacksonville Jaguars starting Sunday at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Jaguars coach Liam Coen said Wednesday that they are making it a priority to design and call more plays in which Hunter is the No. 1 option to take advantage of his speed and athleticism.
“Scheming him open is part of it, No. 1,” Coen said from The Grove resort, where the team is staying and practicing this week in London. “Our job as an offensive staff [is] to make sure we’re putting him in the progression and putting him in the position to be No. 1 [option] a little bit more often in some ways.
“And then when he is the primary [option], we’ve got to throw and catch. We’ve got to make sure that we identify it, find him, be able to be at the right spot at the right time. So I think it’s a combination of a lot of those things that ultimately can all be controlled.”
Hunter had four catches for 15 yards, including a 14-yard catch-and-run, on seven targets in Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks. That was his lowest yardage total of the season (previous low was 21 yards in Week 3 against the Texans).
The need to make Hunter more of a priority in the passing game is related to wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr.‘s struggles. Thomas is the Jaguars’ leading receiver (24 catches for 334 yards) but had a third-down drop and another pass in which it appeared he hesitated in the middle of the field against the Seahawks. Thomas had three drops in Jacksonville’s Week 2 loss to Cincinnati, including one on fourth down that would have given the Jaguars a first-and-goal inside the Bengals’ 10-yard line late in the fourth quarter.
The Jaguars also are without tight end Brenton Strange (20 catches for 204 yards), who was placed on injured reserve after injuring his hip in Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs. He was the team’s leading receiver at the time of his injury.
“It is very important for me to be patient,” said Hunter, who has 20 catches for 197 yards. “Just got to let the game come to me. Coach is trying to dial up a couple things for me, and I’ve just got to continue to just work and just having the guys trust me because I’m doing my job every time.”
Coen said getting Hunter more involved offensively — he hasn’t had more than six catches in a game, which he did in Week 1 — doesn’t mean forcing the ball to him.
“We can’t always say the ball’s going to get thrown to one person based on any play,” Coen said. “Down the field, there’s elements to that, especially when you’re not getting a lot of one-on-one man coverage. … That’s got to be a little bit predicated on what we’re seeing but also making sure we’re doing our jobs as coaches. And he’s doing his job to be in the right spot at the right time, and Trevor [Lawrence] is able to deliver it because it’s great protection. It takes all 11.”
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