In 2025, Jaguars rookie wide receiver/cornerback played exactly twice as many snaps on offense as on defense: He was on the field for 324 offensive plays and 162 defensive plays before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
This year, things may be different.
The Jaguars’ plan is to make Hunter a starting cornerback and play full-time on defense, while only playing part-time at receiver, according to Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network.
That matches what Jaguars General Manager James Gladstone said a month ago, when he indicated that the current makeup of the Jaguars’ roster gave them a greater need at cornerback, but that Hunter would continue playing at least some of the time on both sides of the ball.
Last season Hunter did not have a major impact on either side of the ball: He had 28 catches for 298 yards and one touchdown, while on defense he had 11 solo tackles, three passes defensed and no interceptions.
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The two questions hovering over Travis Hunter heading into his second season is how he’s recovering from knee surgery and how the Jaguars plan to use him on both sides of the ball.
Hunter tore his LCL in the seventh game of the season and head coach Liam Coen said in an interview with Pete Prisco of CBS Sports that Hunter “looks great right now” while working out at the team’s facility. Coen also touched on the team’s plans for deploying the two-way player in the future.
Hunter played 324 snaps at wide receiver and 162 snaps at cornerback during his rookie season. The injury raised questions about whether the strain of playing on both sides would be too much stress for the 2025 first-rounder and Coen said the team is not making any concrete plans at the moment.
“We’re gonna continue to evaluate. What does his schedule look like? Where do we need him more on this day or as a team. We’ll continue to be fluid with that,” Coen said.
General Manager James Gladstone said last month that the current roster makeup might create a bigger need for Hunter at cornerback, but it will be some time before the full plan for Hunter becomes clear in 2026.
Panthers owner David Tepper has previously been mum about why he threw a drink at a fan in Jacksonville two years ago. Now he has offered an explanation.
Tepper told Pat McAfee Jaguars fans had been trash-talking him the entire game and he was ignoring it, despite how close they were getting to his box.
“In Jacksonville, the way it’s set up, they can get on a chair and lean into your box,” Tepper said.
So what set Tepper over the edge? He says it was the way the Jaguars were talking not about him, but about a Panthers player who had suffered a significant head injury.
“I was walking away, our player — Marquis Haynes — got knocked out on the field. The people had been harassing us the whole game, harassing, harassing, harassing. I’m just like, walk away, walk away, walk away. The guy said, ‘Get your frickin’ player off the field.’ I couldn’t take it anymore,” Tepper said.
The NFL fined Tepper $300,000 for throwing the drink.
The Coach of the Year award had more deserving candidates than perhaps any other award announced Thursday night at NFL Honors.
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel won it for the second time in his career, with 19 of 50 first-place votes and 302 total points. He beat out Jacksonville’s Liam Coen (239 points, 16 first-place votes), Seattle’s Mike Macdonald (191, eight), Chicago’s Ben Johnson (145, one) and San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan (140, six). Coen and Johnson, like Vrabel, directed big turnarounds; Macdonald led the Seahawks to the No. 1 seed in the NFC; and Shanahan’s team overcame a slew of injuries to come within a game of the No. 1 seed, losing to the Seahawks in Week 18.
He joins Chuck Knox (Rams, Bills, Seahawks), Bill Parcells (Giants, Patriots), Bruce Arians (Colts, Cardinals), Dan Reeves (Giants, Falcons), Don Shula (Colts, Dolphins) and George Allen (Rams, Washington) as coaches who have won the award with multiple franchises.
The Patriots named Vrabel their head coach before the 2025 season after the team went 4-13 in Jerod Mayo’s only season. New England was 13-4 this season and won the AFC East in Vrabel’s first season.
Vrabel also won the award in 2021 when he coached the Titans.
Bill Belichick won the award in 2010.
The awards announced at NFL Honors are only for results of the regular season, with voting conducted after Week 18.
The Jaguars set linebacker Devin Lloyd up for a contract year by declining his fifth-year option ahead of the 2025 season and Lloyd made the most of the chance to show his value to the league.
Lloyd was named a second-team All-Pro after recording 81 tackles, five interceptions, 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery for the AFC South champions. With a projected franchise tag number of over $28 million for linebackers, Lloyd is likely to re-sign with the Jags or hit free agency as one of the top off-ball linebackers in March.
While speaking with NFL.com from the Pro Bowl this week, Lloyd said he has had “no talks” with the Jaguars yet and shared his thoughts about what he’d like to see happen come the offseason.
“I want to be where God wants me to be,” Lloyd said. “For me, being back in Jacksonville, my mom lives out there. You know, obviously, my lady is out there. You know, there are a lot of pros to being out there. And so, for me, it’s just about being in the right spot. Ultimately, that’s the No. 1 most important thing, being in the right spot.”
Lloyd’s play in Anthony Campanile’s defense this season is likely to create interest in his return to the Jaguars but the numbers will have to fit in order for him to pass on the chance to see what he could make on the open market.
The Jaguars added a pair of coaches to Liam Coen’s staff on Wednesday.
They announced the hiring of defensive pass game coordinator Mathieu Araujo and offensive run game coordinator Brian Picucci. The moves come a day after the team announced that offensive coordinator Grant Udinski and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile will be back for the 2026 season.
Araujo spent the last four seasons with the Dolphins and was the team’s cornerbacks coach for the last two years. He interviewed for the Jets defensive coordinator job, but they wound up hiring Araujo’s Miami colleague Brian Duker for the role.
Picucci was the offensive line coach for the Buccaneers in 2025 and their assistant line coach in 2024. Coen was the offensive coordinator in Tampa in 2024 and also worked with Coen at Kentucky in 2023.
Anthony Campanile is apparently no longer in the running to become Arizona’s next head coach.
The Jaguars announced on Tuesday that Campanile and Grant Udinski — the club’s defensive and offensive coordinators — will return to the team for 2026.
The club noted that both men agreed to terms, implying that both will receive extensions.
Campanile was interviewed for Arizona’s head coaching job. But Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur is undergoing an in-person interview for that job on Tuesday, and is a strong candidate to land in the role.
Udinski also had interviewed with the Browns and Bills in recent days. But Udinski took himself out of consideration for Cleveland’s job and Buffalo promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach on Tuesday.
Jacksonville won the AFC South with a 13-4 record in 2025, falling to Buffalo in the wild card round.
Grant Udinski will not be the next Browns head coach.
According to multiple reports, Udinski has withdrawn from consideration from Cleveland’s vacancy after agreeing to a new deal to remain Jacksonville’s offensive coordinator.
However, Udinski will still be able to pursue the Bills’ head coaching vacancy.
Udinski, 30, had interviewed with the Browns twice and was reportedly considered a finalist for the position.
Cleveland’s known remaining candidates include the team’s defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Commanders run game coordinator Anthony Lynn, and Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase.
The Browns’ brass is reportedly in Los Angeles on Monday to interview Scheelhaase in person after the Rams fell in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.
Cleveland fired head coach Kevin Stefanski after six seasons earlier this month. Stefanski has since been named Falcons head coach.
The Jaguars are adding an offensive assistant.
Jacksonville is hiring Brian Picucci to be the club’s offensive run game coordinator, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Picucci had been Tampa Bay’s offensive line coach in 2025 after serving as the club’s assistant offensive line coach in 2024.
Picucci worked with Jaguars head coach Liam Coen at multiple stops, including with Tampa Bay in 2024 and also at the college level at Kentucky.
The Bills interviewed Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski on Sunday, the team announced.
Udinski, 30, just completed his first season as Jacksonville’s offensive coordinator under head coach Liam Coen. Udinski did not call plays, as Coen filled that role.
Udinski has been a fast riser since entering the coaching ranks after completing his collegiate playing career as a defensive end at Towson. He started as a graduate assistant at Baylor in 2018. He was a coaching assistant with the Panthers from 2020-21, overlapping with Joe Brady.
Udinski joined the Vikings’ staff under Kevin O’Connell in 2022. He transitioned from assistant to the head coach in his first season to assistant quarterbacks coach in his second season before also assuming the role of assistant offensive coordinator in 2024.
Udinski also is a candidate in Cleveland and Buffalo.
