Hunter underwent surgery to repair his LCL in November, halting his debut campaign and preventing him from finishing a promising 2025 Jaguars campaign in which Jacksonville won the AFC South.
Injured in practice, Hunter was coming off his best game offensively, having tallied eight receptions for 101 yards with his first (and only) touchdown catch of the year during a loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
“It was so unfortunate to get hurt like that on a bye-week practice that he had just come off having a 100-yard game,” Coen said. “It made us obviously have to pivot in some ways, and it was super frustrating, but he is the type of human being, the type of dude that will get better from this.”
In seven games, Hunter posted 28 catches for 298 yards along with 15 tackles and three pass breakups. He took snaps on both sides of the ball in every game, with at least 20 on offense and defense in four of them.
The Jaguars and first-year general manager James Gladstone traded up with the Cleveland Browns to take Hunter at No. 2 overall, viewing him as a special and natural talent.
“Without a lot of coaching, you just say, like, ‘Go play.’ And just go watch,” he said. “Yeah, it’s different, for sure; the way he moves, the way he anticipates, the way that he feels coverage, the way on offense he kind of feels zones — he’s a football player.”
Following a 13-4 campaign under a first-year coach in Coen with quarterback Trevor Lawrence returning to the Pro Bowl and becoming an MVP finalist, the Jaguars profile as a team on the ascent. Having rising talent — on both sides of the ball — return to the fold should bode even better for Jacksonville’s fortunes.