Travis Hunter plays corner at minicamp. Jaguars’ Coen talks work ethic
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen met with media Tuesday, June 10, noting Travis Hunter’s endurance and work ethic.
The Jacksonville Jaguars wrapped up the first day of a three-day mandatory minicamp on June 10, setting the stage early for what’s to come after the team’s spring break and into training camp.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen mentioned at the front of Tuesday’s news conference that the team was upping the level of competition a bit. At this stage in the offseason, players get sore as they reacclimate to the game. The same can be said for quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who had left shoulder surgery in December.
Lawrence has been seen over the last week sporting a sleeve on his throwing shoulder. On Monday, Coen said the team wasn’t concerned, and noted he has “general soreness.”
“We threw a lot of balls, kind of last week and really leading up into [minicamp], he feels good. He said it wasn’t really an issue. It’s sometimes when you just have something to keep warm. Just helps any type of thrower… was more maintenance than it is anything that’s really bothering him,” Coen explained.
Jacksonville’s three-day minicamp comes on the heels of 10 organized team activities over the last few weeks. With a condensed but longer schedule, the Jaguars are upping the competition a bit.
“Yes, we upped the level of competition, but you didn’t see a million people banging into each other or guys getting banged up and it was cleaner. I was a little concerned with that, and that’s obviously not what we’re trying to get accomplished out of these few days,” Coen said when asked about the differences between now and when the team first began during OTAs.
“But, we were keeping score on the competition phase of it… just to try to make it a little bit more fun for them.”
Jacksonville’s first minicamp practice featured plenty of competition, especially with the offensive skill players and their counterparts on the other side of the ball.
One area the team must wait and see on is in the trenches. Before pads go on and physical contact is allowed, there’s not much the team can do insofar as evaluating the offensive line.
Still, the team isn’t shying away from starting at least some competition in that area.
Jaguars competition on OL will accelerate by training camp
The Jaguars will have intense competition on their offensive line when training camp begins in July.
Still, they’ve been able to put some of that to the test during minicamp thus far, with players playing a variety of reps, something Coen said was important.
“I think the competes for me have been more, okay, after we throw a pass maybe 10 yards down the field, are they bursting to go get down the field to practice the right habits that are going to hopefully continue on through training camp, through the season, and be just our style of play, the way we want those guys to play?” Coen said when asked about competition on the offensive line.
“It’s very difficult, like you mentioned, to see an actual physicality within either the run game or the pass-pro in these settings. I think from a repetition standpoint, when you talk about competition, we’ve got a lot of guys some quality, competitive reps with the first group, second group and third group.”
Coen noted that the players have taken to competition thus far. One player who could be interesting to watch will be third-year tackle Anton Harrison. Harrison struggled last year, and the team brought in two new tackles to potentially push the group forward.
Travis Hunter continues to impress with endurance
Travis Hunter was selected to be one of the top players on the team right away, if only due to his natural ability on defense and athleticism to play on offense.
At this point in the offseason, Hunter has split reps on a day-by-day basis, flip-flopping between wide receiver and cornerback. During Organized Team Activities, Hunter played corner at least three times, OTA Nos. 3, 6 and 9.
Hunter will continue to flip between the two positions on a day-to-day basis, but Coen said Tuesday that Hunter will be splitting his time between offense and defense on the same day when training camp begins.
What he’s done so far is a little surprising to the Jaguars, but it’s also what they expected of him, given what he showed in two years with Colorado.
“I guess a little bit because it’s something you don’t see every day, right? For him, though, it just seems pretty normal,” Coen said with a smile. “I think what helps him kind of do things right a lot is that he’s so well conditioned that from a mental fatigue standpoint, it doesn’t seem to occur all that much out here where he can kind of just run.”
Hunter played at high altitudes in Colorado. He totaled the most number of snaps among all FBS players last season.
Player of the day: Tyson Campbell stands out
Jaguars fifth-year cornerback Tyson Campbell is working to make his way back to prominence after back-to-back injury-riddled seasons that stunted his ability and growth.
Before that, Campbell was a rising star in the league, grading out as one of the best corners in the league during the 2022 campaign.
That was also the last time Campbell played more than 12 games in a season, finishing 2022 having started and played in all 17 games for the franchise that year, as well as two more games during the playoffs.
Practicing on Tuesday, Campbell stood out as one of the best players on the field. He consistently shut down his side of the ball and made a pass breakup against a receiver, knocking the player down in the process.
Campbell finished practice with one of the best reps of the offseason, breaking up a deep ball intended for receiver Brian Thomas Jr.
“He’s getting more and more comfortable with his hands at the line of scrimmage. Trusting his physicality, he does have long arms and good length and obviously the speed and athleticism shows up,” Coen said of Campbell on Tuesday.
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky @ Demetrius.
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