The Jaguars didn’t get the ending they wanted in a 31-27 loss to Cincinnati, but it was the kind of debut where you could see the flashes of a team with grit. A bit of fist fighting here, a deflection there, and flags all over the place. That’s life in the NFL, where soft whistles sometimes take away from the passion shown by the players. That’s what happened to Travis Hunter during what would have been his first signature play in the pros.

The sequence was loaded with drama. After Jacksonville failed to convert a 4 down on offense, Cincinnati lined up for their own gamble. Joe Burrow threw toward Andrei Iosivas, and Hunter was right there, stride for stride. His hands working to disrupt without overstepping. As the ball sailed in, Hunter turned his head just in time and swatted it away. That should’ve been the play to end the drive. Instead, out came the flag. Defensive pass interference. “They called just a PI because they say he didn’t get his head around big bs u played great son,” his father posted on IG in frustration. The penalty extended the Bengals’ possession, and Jacksonville never got the ball back with a chance to win.

Not everyone stayed quiet. Deion Sanders’ longtime ally Hellion “Boog” Knight, who has known the family since Shedeur was in grade school, didn’t hold back. “Right! This was a bs call that won the game for them! This was perfect coverage,” Knight said afterward, echoing what so many Jags fans were thinking. There wasn’t that much contact. For Hunter, though, the reaction was calmer. “I just can’t leave it up to the refs,” he told reporters. “I just have to do my job, put myself in a better position.” That modesty has always been part of his football DNA. Where others rage, he leans on accountability.

Head coach Liam Coen had his back. Standing at the podium, he addressed the defining moment. “They call a pass interference on fourth down,” Coen said, pausing with exasperation. “I’d like to see them maybe go earn it, but it is what it is.” That kind of public defense matters for a rookie trying to plant his flag in the league. The Jaguars know Hunter is going to be tested early and often.

Coen defends Travis Hunter’s coverage

The day after, Jaguars coach Liam Coen gave a layered breakdown of what everyone saw. “I think it was the hand fighting that they’re probably going to talk about. I think he opened up the gate a little bit at the beginning, which kind of allowed him to get on top of him but there was a little hand fighting going on between the two of them,” Coen said Monday.

And if there’s one thing that shouldn’t be lost in the noise, it’s Hunter’s two-way ability. Something that separates him from most rookies. Against the Bengals he registered two tackles, a pass breakup, and the controversial penalty on defense. Coen pointed out what made the moment special: “Like, not a lot of guys can get their head around at that point and still see it and find it and go make a play on the ball. So, I think definitely some of the natural ball skills, anticipation showed up.”

Coen added perspective too, noting Hunter’s heavy defensive workload. “He played obviously a lot more snaps on defense this week and obviously had the penalty, but I was pleased, I was proud of the way he competed. We’re going to need more of it.” On offense, Hunter hauled in three catches on six targets for 22 yards, showing the same versatility that made him a unicorn at Colorado. That’s not moral victory material, but it is a blueprint for how he’ll impact games moving forward. That’s why Sunday night, for all the controversy, was less a setback and more a preview.