Travis Hunter wants to get the 'rust off' after missing 9 months

· Yahoo Sports

Injuries are hard for any professional athlete.

Especially if you’re a rookie player who’s still trying to find your way in the NFL. Then double that for playing on offense and defense.

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That’s what Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter dealt with after injuring his LCL last October and being sidelined for the last nine months as he recovered.

Jaguars Camp Observations: Jarrian Jones shines with two INTs on Day 3

But the two-way player is back on the field for training camp, spending time with the offense and defense as reacclimates to the football field. He’s “feeling free” and determined to continue the growth he displayed during his rookie season.

“They let me go out there and just do my thing, let me be me,” Hunter said at the conclusion of Day 3 of Jaguars’ training camp. “They give me the pressure points and let me know [if] my technique’s falling off or if I need to up my technique. I definitely feel free.”

Hunter has spent 29 snaps on defense and 19 snaps on offense through the first three days of training camp. It’s the inverse of the split he had during his rookie season where he played primarily with the offense and was sprinkled in with the defense.

In January, general manager James Gladstone made it known the team would likely lean on him as a defensive back as their roster was more set at receiver than cornerback.

The team has stayed true to that plan through the early portion of camp, with Hunter donning a white practice jersey over his teal jersey which allows him to flip between the sides of the ball with ease.

He’s in constant communication with coaches throughout practice. In fact, it’s rare that he’s not with either receivers coach Edgar Bennett or cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo.

“He's got a lot of heavy lifting,” defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile said of Hunter. “He's splitting time, so every second matters, every second counts.”

Travis Hunter wants to “knock the rust off” in training camp

Though Hunter hasn’t made a splash play through the first block of practices, he almost had Hunter-esque reception on Day 3. With the team working on red zone and Hunter split out wide at receiver, Trevor Lawrence tossed him a 50-50 pass.

Veteran cornerback Corey Ballentine deflected the initial pass, but Hunter concentrated and reeled in the ball as he fell to the ground. However, he was out of bounds before maintaining possession and legally catching the pass.

He made a similar play on the first day of camp, springing into the air to corral a Lawrence pass before cornerback Jabbar Muhammad knocked the ball loose as he landed.

The flashes are certainly there, but it might take a little longer for him to get back to the player he was prior to the injury.

“I’ve been gone for nine months. I’ve not been able to be out here with my teammates for nine months,” Hunter said of what he’s focused on this camp. “[I’ve] finally been able to hit the grass, knock the rust off. Just continue to click with the quarterbacks and click with the defense.”

While the on-field part of Hunter’s game might take a while to reconnect, physically, he’s in better shape than he was prior to the injury. He put on 10 pounds of muscle and somehow got faster.

Hunter hit 22.6 miles per hour doing sprints this offseason, something he wasn’t even shooting for. And he looks stronger than he did a year ago, adding muscle to his frame to help him be more physical on both sides of the ball.

“I feel like he's confident in himself, in his physicality right now,” head coach Liam Coen said. “I think he's going to go into the season feeling more confident in what he's been able to put on his body, for armor purposes and physicality. He's got to get in football shape, that's for sure. But it's exciting to see.”

As Hunter recovered physically, he also expanded himself mentally. He took full advantage of the virtual meeting room inside the Miller Electric Center. He used the space to account for all the reps he missed on the field and stay current with teammates as they progressed through the offseason.

“I got first priority for that room,” Hunter said jokingly. “Going in there every day, learning new plays, learning the process and learning everybody’s job. It really helped me get on the field and play fast.”

Travis Hunter is growing bonds with his teammates, has standard of consistency for himself

How can Hunter gauge his success without statistics? Obviously, once games start there’ll be a way to track his production, but until then how does he value his progress? Consistency.

“When I come out and be consistent [or] I don’t have to listen to coach saying, ‘Oh, you need to do this,’” Hunter said. “Or I don’t got to hear the same thing over and over, and I know I’ve been consistent.”

That consistency is something he’s chasing on both sides of the ball during training camp. As soon as he comes off the field he’s checking in with coaches to make sure he’s on the right track.

Coen was standing at the back of the end zone as receivers were doing individual drills during the early portion of their July 31 practice. He pulled Hunter aside to give some coaching in real time after he completed a rep.

The same thing happened on Day 1 of camp as Campanile pulled Hunter aside to work on pressing techniques during individual drills. It’s a team by coaches, staff members and Hunter to always make sure he’s on the right track.

“You have to be extremely intentional with that time when we have him because it is limited,” Coen said. “Especially right now offensively, it's just over here a little bit less when you're doing some of the individual work, and it's showing a little bit with some of the timing that we need to continue to work on, and that's why those guys get some more extra work after practice.”

Coen is referring to Hunter spending extra time after practice with his offensive teammates working on route running. It’s normal to see Lawrence, Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers and Hunter getting reps after the final whistle blows on work for the day.

But Hunter also spends time with his defensive teammates, telling reporters that they went bowling together before camp started and the defensive guys were at his house during OTAs. It’s a unique balance of having bonds on both sides of the ball.

“I always get onto him [and say] you gotta get out of the offense jersey and get a defense jersey in walkthrough and practice, but it’s all fun and games,” veteran cornerback Buster Brown jokingly said of Hunter. “Then when he comes to our huddle, it’s like, go to the other side. It’s all fun.”

After so much time away, Hunter seems different on the outside. But at his core, he’s still the same player the team took a gamble on and traded up to get in the draft last April.

In fact, if you didn’t know he was injured last year it’s almost as if it never happened. And that’s a credit to his determination and focus during the offseason.

“I put nine months in, so it doesn't feel like I'm coming off an injury,” Hunter said.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Travis Hunter wants to get the 'rust off' after missing 9 months

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