{"id":97737,"date":"2025-06-02T09:59:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T09:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/97737\/"},"modified":"2025-06-02T09:59:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T09:59:14","slug":"will-travis-hunter-get-defensive-reps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/97737\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Travis Hunter get defensive reps?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"play\"<\/p>\n

Travis Hunter the right choice? Former Jaguars Head Coach Coughlin thoughts<\/p>\n

Former Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Tom Coughlin weighs in on Travis Hunter’s draft<\/p>\n

The Jaguars are nearing the end of OTAs and will soon begin mandatory minicamp.Wide receiver Dyami Brown has stood out during OTAs, impressing coaches with his speed and versatility.Several Jaguars defensive players have noticeably reduced their weight this offseason.<\/p>\n

The Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> will be back on the field of the Miller Electric Center for organized team activity No. 7 on Monday, June 2.<\/p>\n

The team is over the hump and will wrap up the OTA period on June 5 with practice 10.<\/p>\n

A short mandatory minicamp will follow<\/a> from June 10-12 before the team dismisses the players for summer break. When they return at the end of July, it\u2019ll be the start of training camp, and from there the preseason will begin.<\/p>\n

That means we\u2019re inching closer to the start of the regular season and debut of rookie Travis Hunter.<\/p>\n

Jaguars<\/a> OTAs observations: With no Travis Etienne, can running game survive?<\/a><\/p>\n

Head coach Liam Coen revealed that Hunter spent time on the practice field with Jacksonville\u2019s defense during OTA No. 3<\/a>, getting a chance to apply what he\u2019s seen in the classrooms and meetings to the grass.<\/p>\n

Hunter has yet to work with the defense during a media-open practice, but he\u2019s spent extra time to work with coaches<\/a> on both sides of the ball to stay up to speed with his responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Offensively, Hunter has shown strides since his start during rookie minicamp. He’s still learning, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to have some mistakes, as have a lot of guys. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve had a complete ton of plays where he\u2019s not known what to do,\u201d Coen said after OTA No. 4. \u201cThere may be an instance where he aligns right, runs the route, but maybe is a yard or two short. Things like that, the little details that he\u2019ll continue to learn. I think he\u2019s about where we would expect, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

An area he\u2019s visibly grown has been as a route runner. Hunter came in very raw and has improved his form and foot placement as the offseason program continues.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also continued to develop a bond with quarterback Trevor Lawrence<\/a>. Lawrence noted how impressed he was with Hunter<\/a> earlier this offseason. The more reps they have together will be beneficial in the long run.<\/p>\n

Defensively, the team is confident he can quickly apply the information he’s taught about coordinator Anthony Campanile’s scheme to on-field application<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019ll be interesting to see if Hunter is afforded time with the defense in one of the media availabilities this week. We\u2019ll keep an eye on it.<\/p>\n

Here are other things we\u2019ll watch during the Jaguars OTAs this week:<\/p>\n

Dyami Brown stands out as star of the offseason program so far<\/p>\n

It sounds silly to say that there\u2019s a star in unpadded practices in shorts and jerseys. However, wide receiver Dyami Brown<\/a> has been an eye catcher for the Jaguars.<\/p>\n

The free agent addition was largely viewed as a player with untapped potential. He\u2019s shown he can hold his own in a receiver room with standout Brian Thomas Jr.<\/a> and Hunter.<\/p>\n

Brown has impressed through the first half of OTAs with his speed and ability to break off big plays. Even on short crosser routes across the middle, he\u2019s ditched his defender and turned on the gas several times.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been really productive throughout this whole camp so far. Showing versatility to do maybe some things that he hadn\u2019t put on tape in the past or wasn\u2019t asked to do from his skillset standpoint,\u201d Coen said of Brown. \u201cI thought he was obviously very productive towards the halfway point of last year into the playoffs, and then you see that confidence continuing to go throughout this camp and this offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

These practices aren\u2019t nearly as competitive as the back-and-forth we\u2019ll see in training camp, but for Brown to already display an ability to be versatile in Coen\u2019s system is a good sign for him.<\/p>\n

There was a 50-50 deep ball to him during the fourth OTA where Tyson Campbell was in coverage and it appeared Brown would come down with the pass with one-hand.<\/p>\n

He ultimately couldn\u2019t reel it in, but forcing the top defender of the Jaguars to fully commit to breaking up a pass was an eye-raiser.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been doing a nice job of being able to run vertically but also being the nuance route runner in some of the daggers and in-cuts and things like that,\u201d Coen continued. \u201cI thought he\u2019s been very locked in this entire time. I\u2019ve been very impressed with the pro that he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anthony Campanile gives insight to defensive players dropping weight ahead of season<\/p>\n

The Jaguars are going with a lighter approach this season.<\/p>\n

After most of their defensive players \u2014 across all positions \u2014 were asked to up their weight last season, the new coaching staff is getting them back down in size.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve probably lost like three pounds as of now,” defensive end Travon Walker said when meeting with reporters last week.<\/p>\n

While he’s only dropped three pounds, Walker looks noticeably different than he did at the end of last season. He said he’s worked on body composition since returning to the facility earlier in the offseason.<\/p>\n

It’s not just Walker, either. Several Jaguars look lighter than they did under the previous regime. It’s something Campanile gave insight on.<\/p>\n

“I think they would be better to answer that question but I really like the way they look right now,” he said when asked how hard it is to play at a different weight. “I think they are really moving well. They have a ton of strength, which you need that. You need strength at the point of attack, you have to play physical.”<\/p>\n

According to Campanile, the new coaches didn’t ask the players to drop weight, or vice versa. It’s just something that the players and strength staff kind of came to a consensus on.<\/p>\n

Especially since, in his opinion, the players know their body best and know where they should be for their best performance.<\/p>\n

“When you\u2019re a pro, you usually know when am I at optimal speed? Where am I my strongest, where I\u2019m not losing strength or losing speed?” Campanile said. “I think those guys did a great job with that in the offseason when they were away from here and coming back in great shape.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Travis Hunter the right choice? Former Jaguars Head Coach Coughlin thoughts Former Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Tom Coughlin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2060],"tags":[3689,247,265,2935,4133,4888,1125,1638,321,4887,4894,3690,7699,14621,7,3688,123,212,125,2401,213,1070,2941,1637,1642,248,267,88,6,245,537,529,530,325,9,266,678,3691,24,2470,528,536,2015,128,21475,1827,2940,314,22725,7872,2328],"class_list":{"0":"post-97737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville-jaguars","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-american","10":"tag-american-football","11":"tag-brian","12":"tag-brian-thomas-jr","13":"tag-brown","14":"tag-campbell","15":"tag-coen","16":"tag-content","17":"tag-dyami","18":"tag-dyami-brown","19":"tag-enabled","20":"tag-fl","21":"tag-fl-content-sharing-jaguars","22":"tag-football","23":"tag-highlights","24":"tag-hunter","25":"tag-jacksonville","26":"tag-jacksonville-jaguars","27":"tag-jacksonvillejaguars","28":"tag-jaguars","29":"tag-jr","30":"tag-lawrence","31":"tag-liam","32":"tag-liam-coen","33":"tag-national","34":"tag-national-sports","35":"tag-news","36":"tag-nfl","37":"tag-overall","38":"tag-overall-positive","39":"tag-point","40":"tag-positive","41":"tag-sharing","42":"tag-sports","43":"tag-sports-news","44":"tag-story","45":"tag-story-highlights-ai-enabled","46":"tag-the","47":"tag-thomas","48":"tag-to","49":"tag-to-the-point","50":"tag-travis","51":"tag-travis-hunter","52":"tag-travon","53":"tag-travon-walker","54":"tag-trevor","55":"tag-trevor-lawrence","56":"tag-tyson","57":"tag-tyson-campbell","58":"tag-walker"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}