“I Hate the Sideline”: Jaguars' Travis Hunter Doubles Down on Playing Both Offense and Defense in NFL

Jacksonville Jaguars two-way star Travis Hunter is not backing away from his desire to play meaningful snaps on both sides of the football. During an interview with Ryan Clark, Hunter explained why he remains determined to make an impact as both a wide receiver and cornerback.

“I don’t want to be the best at one position,” he said on The Pivot. “There’s a lot of people that’s the best at one position. Ain’t nobody yet been the best at both full time.

“I don’t want to see no highlights of me just sitting there, logging one dude up for the whole game. So I like playing both sides of the ball. And I cannot sit on the sideline. I don’t think nobody noticed that yet. I hate the sideline. I do not want to sit there. I can’t sit there and just watch football. I got to be on the field.”

Hunter’s reasoning is pretty simple. He said this because he missed 10 games of his rookie season due to an LCL tear, after logging 324 snaps at wide receiver and 162 snaps at cornerback. He is determined to prove critics wrong who say playing both ways full-time is impossible in the NFL.

Travis Hunter's bold stance on two-way football challenges NFL convention. Subscribe to stay updated on how this experiment reshapes the league's future.

Ever since his college days, when he played as a two-way player full-time, there has been a debate about Hunter continuing that duality in the NFL. Head coach Liam Coen has been saying that he will get the opportunity this year, but we won’t know for sure until the season begins. Hunter is currently working as a starting cornerback and as the WR4 in training camp to avoid the sideline entirely.

His rookie workload backs up the distinction. Hunter played 324 offensive snaps and 162 defensive snaps across seven games in 2025. He caught 28 passes for 298 yards and a touchdown while adding 15 tackles and three passes defensed. His final game before a knee injury ended his season was his most productive outing on offense, with eight catches for 101 yards and his first NFL touchdown.

The Jaguars are not asking him to choose one side in 2026, either. General manager James Gladstone said Hunter will continue playing both ways, while indicating that his defensive workload is expected to increase.

“He is set to play both sides of the ball,” Gladstone said on The Rich Eisen Show, adding that Jacksonville expects an “uptick in corner usage.”

And Hunter’s own argument is straightforward: if he has the ability to contribute in two places, he does not want to spend one half of the game watching the other side play.

Trending Articles

The post “I Hate the Sideline”: Jaguars' Travis Hunter Doubles Down on Playing Both Offense and Defense in NFL appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.