Jacksonville Jaguars DE Josh Hines-Allen breaks down why he showed up
Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen spoke at OTA No. 7, sharing insight into his decision to participate in the voluntary portion of the offseason.
Josh Hines-Allen, aiming to break the Jaguars’ sack record, is focusing on maintaining a lower playing weight this season after feeling the effects of added weight last year.Hines-Allen’s goals include achieving All-Pro status and winning Defensive Player of the Year.He is participating in voluntary OTAs this year, citing a desire to support new head coach Liam Coen and pursue his personal goals.
Josh Hines-Allen has lofty goals as he enters his seventh season playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The team will hit the field for the last time Thursday, June 5, during the voluntary portion of the offseason ahead of mandatory minicamp that’ll take place June 10-12. Fans can see the team in person on June 11 by registering for tickets.
After a career-high 17.5 sacks in 2023, Hines-Allen’s production took a dip for a multitude of reasons in 2024, resulting in eight sacks, giving him 53 for his career and just two sacks shy of the team’s career record of 55 sacks (Tony Brackens).
After playing last season at his heaviest weight ever — ~285 pounds — Hines-Allen didn’t want to disclose what his goal weight for this season is, only that he won’t be playing at that heavy of a weight again.
“I was much bigger. My mindset was always to be as dominant, but obviously, holding a little bit more weight kind of puts a little bit more wear and tear on the body. It was a lot. Too much. Again, learn to adapt. Got to know what works best for you,” Hines-Allen said shortly after the team’s seventh Organized Team Activity.
“Something that I tried, and something that I’m, like, alright, I probably don’t want to do that again. So, we’re working on maintaining a good goal for me this year and putting some good tape out there.”
Hines-Allen mentioned that he was banged up more than usual last season. Still, though Hines-Allen missed one game at the end of last season, it was due to a personal matter, not an injury. Hines-Allen’s season wasn’t clean, though. He sustained a concussion against the Houston Texans in Week 4 and landed in the concussion protocol.
Hines-Allen suited up the following week against the Colts, sporting a guardian helmet, something he said Monday he’d likely opt not to wear this year if another concussion occurs.
Hines-Allen’s soreness was highlighted, too, by his drop in consistent snap counts on a game-by-game basis, playing the lowest percent of snaps (73%) since 2021 when he missed a game, logging just 73% of the snaps.
Now, Hines-Allen says he ran 20 miles per hour the other day, noting that he feels great heading into the 2025 season.
“I don’t want to get off the field. That allows me to lose a little weight, because I don’t want to get off the field. I want to do what’s best for my team. I want to play at a high level each and every rep,” Hines-Allen said.
“Get out, get a squirt of water, and come back in and play four or five plays if needed, full speed, and take over games. That’s my mentality, that’s the mindset and that’s the goal at the end of the day.”
When asked what his “goal weight this year” would be, Hines-Allen took the question as an opportunity to lay out his goals, period.
“To break the sack record, be an All-Pro and win Defensive Player of the Year,” he said.
Hines-Allen’s rare appearance at voluntary OTAs is noteable
Over the last couple of years, Hines-Allen has spent the majority of the voluntary portion of the offseason training in Arizona.
There are multiple reasons why the star pass rusher felt he needed to be in Jacksonville for this portion of the team’s training, but from what he wanted publically known at this time, Hines-Allen said Coen’s prescense helped influence his decision — a decision he made clear was made before the team hiring Coen, however.
“It was that connection that I had with him, that [University of] Kentucky connection that I had with him, to help him out. To be there for him, to be one of the guys he can trust and lean into this season. And then I had a lot of Kentucky coaches calling me, Coach [Brad] White, who I love dearly, who is the DC at Kentucky now, called me and was like, ‘Yeah, you’re going to be there,'” Hines-Allen recalled.
“That’s something I already had in the back of my mind of coming back and doing it no matter who we would have had, because I’ve got big goals that I need to do. Again, it’s all about adapting and figuring out what works. This year, I thought coming to OTAs would be a good time for me, and it’s paying off pretty well.”
Coen appreciated Hines-Allen’s appearance, noting that it’s huge to have him within the team’s ecosystem during this portion of the offseason.
“It’s huge. It’s something that ultimately you want to be the standard for everybody, right? For everybody to want to be here with what we have available to us with this facility, with the training, with the strength and conditioning, with the nutrition. You want guys to want to be here and not have to feel like they need to go elsewhere to get quality work in for themselves. That’s been huge,” said Coen.
“For him to be here as much as he has has been really, really instrumental for our defense and for our entire team,” he added.
Travis Hunter continues to turn heads with incredible athleticism
The Jaguars haven’t showcased do-it-all player Travis Hunter on defense in front of the media yet, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t working on that side of the ball during OTAs.
On multiple occasions, the team released a highlight of Hunter performing as a corner and the latest video the franchise shared via social media didn’t disappoint.
In the clip, Hunter is trailing rookie wideout Darius Lassiter, who appears to be running a version of a go route. Hunter played his leverage well on the inside of Lassiter, breaking up the pass initially before diving to catch the interception.
Hunter made the rep look effortless and drew a lot of cheers from his defensive teammates. It was just a glimpse of what the second-overall pick can bring to the table.
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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