Jaguars GM: Travis Hunter’s Two-Way Days are “Absolutely Not” Finished

If anyone in Rich's business was hoping the Jacksonville Jaguars would quietly retire the Travis Hunter two-way experiment, James Gladstone would like a word.

"Absolutely not."

The Jaguars general manager joined the Rich Eisen Show to address the state of the rookie everyone in the league has an opinion about, and the answer was unambiguous. Hunter is set to play both sides of the ball.

The physical update first. Hunter is on the grass in a limited fashion, and that will be the case throughout the rest of the offseason program. Once training camp opens, Gladstone said, he will be full go. The plan is to build off Hunter's London game against the Rams, where he topped 100 receiving yards, found the end zone, and then flipped to the defensive side and broke up a critical down against Davante Adams. That kind of versatility, Gladstone said, is exactly what they want to scale.

Rich tested the language. The word "limited" usually applies to a player whose health caps his workload. With Hunter, given the two-way reality, Rich wondered whether "limited" might also be code for how Jacksonville plans to deploy him long term.

Gladstone smiled and let Rich draw it out. Then he answered straight.

The usage shift is real, but it does not mean what people might think. Hunter's corner usage is going up. "Last year it was a higher volume, higher percentage of wide receiver usage than it was corner. I think we can expect to see that corner percentile and count go up as we move forward." The wide receiver workload, Gladstone said, is not getting cut. The corner workload is getting expanded.

Why the defensive side? Two reasons, both about roster fit. The cornerback room looks different than it did last year. The bodies are different. Roster construction has changed. "It's more fitting to slot him in at corner in a different way than it was at this time last year or even as the season progressed."

And then the part Rich pressed on, the Hunter intent question. What does the player himself want?

"He wants to play both ways, and he wants to do exactly what he set out to do when he first started putting that into action all those years ago. That's his dream, and we'll look to support that in the best way that we can."

The organizational frame, Gladstone said, is to put Hunter in position to do what he does best. The ball in his hands. Defending some of the best receivers on the other side. Both, not one.

Rich teed up the recap directly. Trading up and giving up capital makes sense for a player who fills two roster spots and does it expertly. Cutting that off and making him a one-side player would invalidate the math. Gladstone confirmed it cleanly.

"He's not going to be impacted in terms of usage from that vantage point. He is set to play both sides of the ball, and we look forward to bringing that all to life here in the upcoming season."

The two-way bet is on. The Jaguars are doubling it.