The Jacksonville Jaguars are planning for Travis Hunter to be an «every-down wide receiver and situational corner» in Sunday's regular-season opener against the Carolina Panthers, league sources told ESPN.
Although Hunter is expected to play more wide receiver than cornerback Sunday, it doesn't mean that arrangement will hold in Week 2 or further into the season, according to sources.
The Jaguars plan to mix up Hunter's usage throughout the course of the season, sources said, but they believe there will be some weeks when the rookie can and will be deployed as both a full-time wide receiver and cornerback.
«We're going to have to figure it out,» Jaguars head coach Liam Coen told reporters Friday. «We're going to have to all be flexible. We'll come up with that plan over the next 24 hours in terms like, alright, what are the exact maybe numbers we want to hit on both sides or usage?»
Jacksonville initially will determine Hunter's usage on a week-to-week basis. The Jaguars want to keep their opponents off guard and force them to prepare for every possibility involving Hunter, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and No. 2 overall pick in this year's NFL draft.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Hunter missed Jacksonville's second preseason game (none of the Jaguars' starters played in the preseason finale) and four training camp practices earlier this summer because of an upper body injury.
«He did miss some time, and so that's something that we just need to make sure we're aware of and keeping engaged as coaches to make sure that, if he's getting a little lost or doesn't know what he's doing on a few things, well, man, maybe we need to reel it back a little and get him a rest here maybe for a sec,» Coen said Friday. «Whatever it is,
Read more on espn.com
espn.com
